There is something a little strange about the penalty called on New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo. Football coaches spend years teaching running backs to get low, lower their pads, protect the football and drive through contact. That’s how you get those extra two or three yards when a defender is waiting for you.
Then Skattebo does something that looks pretty familiar to anybody who has watched football for a long time, and the officials take 15 yards away.
When Does Running Hard Become a Penalty?
Jason and Travis Kelce aren’t buying it. On their New Heights podcast, both brothers questioned the unnecessary roughness call after Skattebo lowered his helmet into Houston Texans safety M.J. Stewart during a seven-yard run.
Jason was particularly unhappy, arguing that a running back should be allowed to lower his shoulder and fight for yardage. Travis wondered how a runner is supposed to lower his pads while keeping his head up. I understand where they’re coming from. So do a lot of football fans.
Cam Skattebo Is Caught Between Two Football Lessons
Here’s the interesting part. The NFL isn’t wrong to worry about head injuries. Players are bigger, faster and stronger than ever, and the league has a responsibility to protect them. The rules prohibit players from using the crown of their helmets to make forcible contact with opponents.
But there’s a difference between deliberately leading with the top of your helmet and lowering your body to absorb contact. That’s where the debate really begins. Running backs don’t have the luxury of standing upright and politely waiting to be tackled. Their job is to make defenders work for every yard. Skattebo has built much of his appeal around that physical, almost fearless running style.
He finished the Giants’ 27-21 overtime win over Houston with 124 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. He also broke off a 42-yard run in overtime that helped set up the winning score.
Skattebo Runs Like Giants Fans Want Their Backs to Run
That’s the player Giants fans want to see. The question is whether the NFL can make its safety rules clear enough that players know where the line is. Nobody wants to see a running back injured, but nobody wants to see ordinary football plays turned into penalties because a runner is trying to finish a tackle.
There has to be some room for the physical part of the game. Perhaps that’s the balance the league is still trying to find. Skattebo isn’t going to change the way he runs overnight, and I suspect Giants fans wouldn’t want him to lose that edge.
The NFL can protect its players without taking away everything that makes a running back exciting to watch. Finding that line, however, isn’t always as easy as throwing a flag.
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