Cam Skattebo runs for 3 TDs and Jaxson Dart shines as the Giants beat the Eagles 34-17

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Cam Skattebo and Jaxson Dart sat next to each other on the flight home from New Orleans and lamented the turnovers they committed that caused the New York Giants to lose a game they felt they should have won.

The conversations continued this week, while Dart was listening to outsiders giving his team little chance to beat the Philadelphia Eagles. Then the rookies responded exactly like coach Brian Daboll expected to spark a prime-time upset of the reigning Super Bowl champions.

Skattebo ran for three touchdowns, Dart had one rushing and another passing and the Giants beat the Eagles 34-17 on Thursday night, handing what less than a week ago was one of the NFL’s final unbeaten teams its second consecutive loss.

“Quite honestly, nobody really expected us to put up a performance like this,” said Dart, who was 17 of 25 for 195 yards passing and had 13 carries for 58 yards. “We felt confident. We just tried to play hard for each other. We’re not trying to make statements. We’re just trying to play for each other and win games.”

Skattebo bulldozed his way into the end zone from 4 yards out and twice from the 1. Dart scampered in untouched on his 20-yard TD run and connected with Wan’Dale Robinson on a 35-yard catch-and-run to the end zone.

“I’m going sleep with No. 3 tonight as my pillow,” Skattebo said while holding up a game ball. “We played hard, and props to the guys up front for all the effort they gave me and this team.”

Dart also cleared a concussion test after taking a big hit in the second half, and Skattebo ran 19 times for a career-high 98 yards and had two catches for 12 more. It was quite the bounce back for players who each fumbled in the loss to the Saints, and Dart also had two interceptions.

“You go through some tough times,” Daboll said. “Sometimes you can get stronger from it, or sometimes you can fold. I like our guys. These young players, I have a lot of confidence in these young players. These rookies, they have the right mindset. They’re tough.”

Dart said he and Skattebo told each other they had each other’s backs and were “going to lay it all on the line each and every play.”

“We know that everybody’s going to rally around each other the more that we have performances like this,” Dart said.

The Giants (2-4) also sacked Jalen Hurts three times and picked off a pass. Brian Burns got to the Eagles quarterback twice to tie for the NFL lead in sacks this season with seven.

Hurts overthrew a wide-open DeVonta Smith on a play in the third quarter almost certainly would have been a touchdown if it was on the mark and in the fourth was intercepted by Cor’Dale Flott, who returned it 68 yards. It was Hurts’ first interception of the season and just his second, the other being in the Super Bowl, over his past 15 games.

“I got to be better,” Hurts said, calling his interception a bad throw and criticizing himself for missing Smith. “Another opportunity to keep attacking them and capitalizing. I didn’t give him a good ball. It’s something that I own and something that I’m going to work on.”