The Giants.com crew members discuss their takeaways from Week 8:

John Schmeelk: When Cam Skattebo hurt his ankle on Sunday, we saw the emotional impact the injury had on the Giants players and sideline. But the impact on the field will be more long-lasting and profound. Heading into the game against the Eagles, Skattebo led the Giants and all NFL rookies in scrimmage yards (587) and touchdowns (six). He had accounted for 24 percent of the Giants' scrimmage yards, which is the most by a Giants rookie since Saquon Barkley did it in 2018.

As important as Dart is to the future, it was in many ways Skattebo that helped forge the identity of the offense this season. He was the centerpiece of a power running game that gave the Giants early-down success and kept the chains moving. He always fell forward for an extra couple of yards and bounded off tacklers to create yards after contract. He was also a factor in the pass game, including the Giants' lone first-half touchdown against the Eagles.

The Giants are fortunate they have a second-year running back that a lot of people were excited about coming into the season in Tyrone Tracy Jr. He is healthy and ready to take back the No. 1 running back role he held last year. He is more of a slasher and speed back than Skattebo, so the Giants might have to lean into different types of run plays, but he should be able to be productive. As a former college wide receiver, he can also catch the ball out of the backfield. After 1,000 yards from scrimmage as a rookie, Tracy will once again have a chance to show Giants fans why he was such a good value in the draft last year.

Dan Salomone: Tom Brady, who was part of the broadcast team on Sunday, said Jaxson Dart has "all of those QB1 traits I look for." That is high praise from a seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback. It was another acknowledgement that the NFL world sees what Giants fans are seeing from their quarterback.

What Brady has liked in particular is how Dart carries himself.

"I always look at quarterbacks and go, 'How would I answer that question?'" Brady said on FOX NFL Sunday before the game. "When I hear Jaxson Dart, especially after last week's loss in Denver, it was the same way. He took accountability for the mistakes."

Unfortunately for the Giants, the rookie had to step up to the podium a few hours later and talk about another loss.

"Hopefully it just motivates everybody more throughout the whole facility," Dart said. "It's not just the players, it's not just the coaches, it's everybody. I hope everybody can be more and more motivated to get better, to try to take another step in [our] preparation and how [we] lead. That goes for me, too. I have to take accountability because I need to be way better. Fair or unfair, a quarterback is judged by wins and losses. We've got to bounce back and I feel confident in the guys and that's what we're going to do."

That echoed what Brady heard from broadcast meetings with the 25^th overall pick.

"He's also just this competitive kid," Brady said. "He said to me on the call this week, 'Tom, I'm not into moral victories. I've got to make better plays. The team's counting on me.' This organization loves him a lot. They're all invested in him. There's a lot of good reasons to be."

Matt Citak: After a slow start to the season that saw the Giants allow an average of 153 rushing yards per game through their first four games, it appeared as if the run defense was getting on track in Week 5. The Giants held the Saints to 88 yards on the ground and limited Saquon Barkley and the Eagles' rushing attack to just 73 yards on the ground the following week. However, the unit took a bit of a step back in Denver, before being gashed on the ground in the rematch against Philadelphia.

Things got off to a bad start when Barkley took his first carry of the game for 65 yards and a touchdown. While that was the Eagles' longest play of the day, it was far from their only explosive one. Overall, Barkley and Tank Bigsby both averaged double-digit yards per carry. Barkley finished with three runs of 10+ yards while Bigsby added five such runs. Of Barkley's season-high 150 rushing yards, 108 came before contact, the second-most in a game in his career.

Looking at the upcoming schedule, things aren't about to get much easier. A matchup against San Francisco's Christian McCaffrey is on the horizon, followed by games against Chicago's D'Andre Swift, Green Bay's Josh Jacobs, and Detroit's Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. Numerous injuries to the secondary obviously provided a big blow to the defense overall. But the best way to help alleviate some of the pressure off a depleted secondary is by putting them in third-and-long situations, which starts with winning up front on early downs. In order for the Giants defense to get on track, they need to step up in the run game these coming weeks.