Skattebo's Wild TNF Night: Iron Man Helmet, Pretzel-Dog Vomit and a Camera Staredown

Cam Skattebo arrived at MetLife Stadium on Thursday night dressed as Iron Man, threw up on the sideline because of a pretzel-wrapped hot dog, scored two touchdowns, and then stared into a television camera for ten seconds like it owed him money. The New York Giants still lost 24-21 to the Washington Commanders, but nobody will remember the score first. They will remember the running back who turned one Thursday night game into four separate viral moments.

What did Skattebo do before kickoff?

He showed up in costume. Halloween was a couple of weeks ago, but Skattebo arrived at MetLife wearing an Iron Man helmet with the visor flipped up, USA Today reports, meeting fans and snapping selfies on the way in while dressed in a casual black sweater and grey sweatpants. He offered no explanation, and none was needed: the helmet was its own headline before the game started, and it set the tone for everything that followed. The Giants were getting their second-year back for the first time since a hamstring injury, and he was clearly in the mood to be noticed.

Why did Skattebo throw up on the sideline?

A bad pregame snack. Prime Video sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung reported that Skattebo vomited on the bench early in the game and was checked out by the team’s training staff but was fine, USA Today reports. Skattebo told reporters afterwards that he had eaten a pretzel-wrapped hot dog before the game and it did not sit right in his stomach. “Nothing crazy. Got rid of it, felt good after,” he said. He then went out and racked up 60 yards from scrimmage in the first quarter alone, which is either a remarkable recovery or proof that the hot dog was the least of Washington’s problems.

How did Skattebo play after that?

Like the best version of himself. He scored the game’s first touchdown with 2:35 remaining in the first half, USA Today reports, absorbing contact at the line of scrimmage before falling forward and extending the ball over the goal line to cap a 16-play drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock. He scored again in the third quarter on a 13-yard pitch to the right through a clear running lane. He finished with 18 carries for 78 yards and two touchdowns plus 44 receiving yards, Larry Brown Sports reports, perhaps his best individual game of the season. He had entered Thursday with two touchdowns on the season and was averaging 4.3 yards per carry.

What happened in the camera staredown?

The fourth quarter started, and Skattebo found the sky camera. As the Prime Video broadcast panned to him, the running back suddenly became self-aware and launched into an impromptu staredown, his eyes becoming wide like saucers, Larry Brown Sports reports. He held it for about ten seconds. Al Michaels was at least entertained, laughing and remarking that he knows where the camera is. The clip spread within minutes, and Barstool Sports posted that Skattebo is just a psychopath who happens to be good at football. The memes followed: what a microwave sees at 3am, reading a food truck menu, an Outlook inbox buffering.

How did the Giants lose the game?

The same way they have lost games all season: by giving one away late. Washington won 24-21 after the Giants led 21-17 with 3:41 left, and the turning point was as strange as everything else in the game. Backup quarterback Jameis Winston tried to draw Washington offsides by singing the Baha Men hit in his hard count on fourth-and-1, took a delay of game instead, and the Giants punted. Washington needed only three plays to go 71 yards for Stefon Diggs’ 32-yard touchdown with 57 seconds left, and J.J. McCarthy’s final throw was intercepted with 25 seconds left. The loss dropped the Giants to 5-3-1, though they still hold first place in the NFC East, a division where the Cowboys are making their own strange headlines.

What did Skattebo say afterwards?

He was already looking past it. “We’ve got to go in the next five, six games not wanting to lose,” Skattebo said, USA Today reports. “We’ve got to win the football games. I’m not too worry about it. They got us this time. But we’ve got the rest of the division to handle and we’ll let it work itself out.” It was the least viral thing he said all night, which is saying something. The Giants’ season is still in their hands, even after a week in which their trade-deadline plans fell apart, and Thursday’s lesson was that a running back can do everything right and still watch the game slip away. The Commanders, for their part, have made a habit of this against the Giants, and they now own the tiebreaker.