QUARTERBACK
-Jaxson Dart: 13/20 – 111 yards / 1 TD – 0 INT / 96.0 RAT
*Going a little longer than normal here for the Dart Knight’s debut*
Dart also added 54 yards on the ground. His three runs of 10+ yards led all quarterbacks in Week 4. The build-up is over, thankfully. Dart’s first start of what many hope to be a long and successful career is now in the rear-view mirror and now, as they say, we are in it. There were plenty of positives and a few negatives to his inaugural start for Big Blue, but the two takeaways I have were, competitive and erratic. Competitive enough to create with his legs and after contact. Competitive enough to overcome a hamstring strain and/or cramp in the second quarter. And competitive enough to, most importantly, lead NYG to their first win of the season against the undefeated Chargers, a team many think is the best in football. On the flip side, the word erratic came from a few of his releases and the fact he regressed with his internal clock as a drop back passer late in the game. Erratic is normal for every rookie quarterback, but Dart made big plays in big moments. Strip everything away and that is what everyone wants in their quarterback. You want them with the ball in their hands at the end of games because they get it done more often than not, period.
The game plan early on was run-heavy with Dart directly involved. NYG scored a touchdown on the opening drive, an incredibly rare feat under the Daboll regime. They ran the ball eight times and threw it three times (including a pass interference call on LAC). Dart carried the ball three of the last four plays including a 15-yard touchdown and the energy felt different. It was all Dart, Cam Skattebo, and Malik Nabers. Nobody else touched the ball and we received a glimpse of what this next era of NYG offensive football could look like. Later on in his pro debut, Dart began taking a lot of hits. The pressure was frequent, he was holding onto the ball a bit too long, and he scrambled three times. This was turning into an overly physical game, and on the same drive Nabers tore his ACL, Dart was limping around grabbing at his hamstring. The dark clouds loomed over NYG nation both at MetLife Stadium in the living rooms of those watching at home. We did not make it to halftime before the hopeful 1-2 passing game punch appeared over. Later on, Russell Wilson had to come in for a snap as Dart got examined for a concussion. Was this really happening?
Dart ended up concussion free and his hamstring was a non-issue in the second half. He threw his first career touchdown to Theo Johnson on a short shovel pass and played turnover-free football (Eli Manning and Daniel Jones had two turnovers each in their debuts). Dart proved he can play off-script, under control, and create on his own. He was excellent at keeping his eyes downfield against pressure, but the red flag I saw was the inability to pull the trigger fast enough when his targets were there. Open windows are few and far between in the NFL and they disappear in an instant against quality defenses. Dart held on to the ball too long at least four times from what I saw on the All-22 and that could have been a catalyst to a loss. In the same breath, his biggest throw of the game put the nail in the coffin to the LAC comeback effort. A 3rd-and-5 pass to Theo Johnson was nothing overly impressive at first glance, but it was not his initial read and he quickly recognized it, got it out fast, and put it in the stomach of Johnson. First down and NYG got to chew off almost all remaining time on the clock. That was a big, big play.
In conclusion, Dart’s first game was a lot better than Eli Manning’s and a lot less productive than Jones’. In all honesty, that doesn’t matter. What matters is the fact he brought a different level of energy and passion to the team, coaches, and fans. I have not seen Daboll like that post-game in years. I am a firm believer in culture building and overall morale-creating opportunities to reach new heights. He is 1-0 as a starter and everyone can buckle up for a franchise quarterback’s journey to being “the one.” There is a lot to work on and a lot to be excited about.
RUNNING BACK
-Cam Skattebo: 25 att – 79 yards / 2 rec – 11 yards
Not the most impressive stat line for Skattebo, but this was a performance that was a huge factor in the first win of the season. He had four first downs on the ground and created on his own despite crowded running lanes. Skattebo gets a lot of attention for being nasty and physical, rightfully so. But as I said in the pre-draft process, he truly is one of the best athletes at the position in the league. He was second-best in last year’s draft class in the broad jump and vertical, which display explosion and trigger. He gets through the hole and/or cutback lanes in a blink. He continues to impress as a blocker as well.
-Devin Singletary had a sneaky-strong game, finishing with 28 yards on seven carries. Four of those carries and 23 of those yards came on a long fourth-quarter drive that helped bite off 6:00 of game clock.
WIDE RECEIVER
-Even though NYG got their first win of 2025 against one of the best teams in the NFL, the dark cloud that remained over the game was the injury to Malik Nabers. On a poorly thrown deep ball that Nabers had to adjust to, he tried to both stop his momentum and leap off his right leg. The knee buckled and he tore his ACL, ending his second season before October. He ended up catching two passes for 20 yards (second highest on team) despite missing the majority of the game. The one positive surrounding his injury is how clean and simple the tear is and how fast he can be back to full speed, better and stronger. Nabers will, no question, be 100% by the start of 2026 training camp. More on what NYG can do at receiver down below.
-Darius Slayton led the team with 44 yards on three catches. He added gains of 18 and 17 yards. Slayton is going to be the security blanket for Dart moving forward and I expect a ton of targets to go his way. Love him or hate him or somewhere in between, he is the most established target in the passing game when it comes to routes, getting open, getting downfield, and catching the ball.
-Wan’Dale Robinson had 3 catches for 14 yards and dropped a touchdown late in the game. Again, a loss would have highlighted this play more than usual and while it was a tough ball to bring in, the lack of strength caused those 6 points to stay off the board in a 21-18 game with over five minutes remaining.
-Jalin Hyatt was on the field for 18 pass plays and was barely even looked at, let alone thrown to.
TIGHT END
-Theo Johnson was targeted five times and caught three passes for 17 yards, including a touchdown. While that volume of production is less than stellar, his catches were big for the team’s victory. Those short, high-velocity passes are not easy to bring in.
-Daniel Bellinger caught a pass for 13 yards, resulting in a first down and Chris Manhertz made a key tackle on special teams late in the game.
OFFENSIVE LINE
-All five linemen played all 76 snaps. A rare feat, whether we are talking Giants or the league.
-The usually-reliable Jermaine Eluemunor was the guilty culprit of the second half collapse by the line. He allowed two sacks, two TFL, and three pressures. I will say the Los Angeles scheme was very well put together and it caused confusion up front. Eluemunor did not forecast well and he does not have the lateral recovery speed to make up for it. He was not himself in this one and it hurt the offense in key moments. Right guard Greg Van Roten was the other weak point, allowing two pressures and a sack in addition to being flagged for a false start. It is very difficult to engineer a quality offense when the entire side of a line fails that often.
-The left side was much stronger. Andrew Thomas’ only notable gaffe was a tackle for loss in the fourth quarter on a really tough block. He played excellent otherwise with just a few pass protection sets where he got pushed back. The biggest play of the game by Thomas? A recovered fumbled snap at the NYG one-yard line in the third quarter of a 14-10 game. It was an impressive feat of reaction speed and body control. Guard Jon Runyan was excellent in pass protection as well, allowing zero pressures and while he isn’t creating a ton of movement in the running game, he is staying on his assignment more often than not.
-Center John Michael Schmitz has a few ugly losses on tape each week. To be blunt, he is not a good enough athlete to play against speed and quickness. He is all-in on his initial read and contact, and any adjustment needed that pops up is a whiff. He was flagged for a hold on the longest play of the day, a 36-yard run by Dart. With that said, he actually graded out with a positive grade in this one. The numbers don’t lie and he was a key blocker on some of the big runs they had. He also allowed just one pressure.
EDGE
-Another outstanding group from the trio. The season is starting off as well as anyone could imagine when looking at the group’s impact and spread out contributions. It is like they rotate who is going to have the big game with the floor of the two others being high enough to make a play or two. They are carrying this pass rush right now and in this game, it was Abdul Carter leading the way. He had 7 pressures with 5 hits on Justin Herbert. That led the NFL (pre-Monday night). Carter’s burst and change of direction is some of the best (if not the best) I see in the league among pass rushers. He has blinders on when it comes to attack-mode, which did lead him away from outside contain assignments. He was not much of a factor against the run, but what is most important right now is how effective he is getting after the passer.
-Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns both had a sack. Burns was on an inside stunt that both he and Carter have had loads of success with. He is tied for the league-lead in sacks by the way and he is eighth in pressures. Thibodeaux got his on a broken play where he did a nice job of cleaning up and finishing. He was penetrating against the run well and one time it led to a tackle for loss. He also added three pressures, one of which did come against Joe Alt before he left with an injury.
-It is important to note they made it through using these three on the outside. Burns 44 snaps. Thibodeaux 41. Carter 40.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
-Darius Alexander went from no-show to a key part of this defense in a hurry. Another example why not to overreact when it comes to rookies. He played 25 snaps, second most in the group behind Dexter Lawrence. While he is still struggling to maintain gap integrity against the run, notably against the double team, he showed something as a pass rusher. He split a double team, causing Herbert to step up into the pocket and it led to the Thibodeaux sack. The impact plays are there, but the consistency is not. Good place to start.
-DJ Davidson and Roy Robertson-Harris were in a rotational role and accrued a pressure apiece. Neither made anything happen against the run and that is the glaring hole this team has on the line next to Lawrence. These guys simply don’t make plays.
-Dexter Lawrence appears to be steadily improving week to week, an encouraging sign. He had two pressures, a tackle for loss, and a batted pass that he turned into an interception. That interception was returned 37 yards, finishing just nine feet away from a touchdown. It was an amazing play when you re-watch it. Unfortunately it led to just three points for NYG. Lawrence also batted another pass but it was nullified by a penalty in coverage.
LINEBACKER
-Darius Muasau returned from a concussion and led the team with 6 tackles, one of which was for a loss on a screen play where he made an excellent read. He also added a pressure. He got beat badly on the long Omarion Hampton touchdown but otherwise he played solid assignment football, meeting blockers at an advantageous spot for the defense.
-Bobby Okerke played all 63 snaps and added 4 tackles with one miss. I hate to say it, but he has not improved since his shaky start over the first couple weeks like Lawrence has. He is not getting off blocks and the lack of lateral range is going to be a problem.
CORNERBACK
-Andru Phillips wins the game MVP award. On 3rd-and-6 in the third quarter near midfield with NYG up 14-10, Phillips fought through a lot of traffic with impeccable technique and came away with the Herbert pass with a high-difficulty catch and quickly returned it 56 yards which was, once again, 9 feet shy of a score. The offense was able to convert this opportunity into a touchdown and 11-point lead, the final points of the day for NYG and ultimately what got them the win. That was not all for Phillips, however. He broke up three other passes, two of which were on third down. The downfield pass break-up early in the game was, again, absolute textbook cornerback play. Phillips added two tackles, limiting any yards after catch on the two completions (out of 7 targets) allowed. This was the best game I’ve seen out of the second-year pro.
-Nobody was targeted more than Paulson Adebo. Herbert went 4/9 for 38 yards when throwing his way and Adebo broke up a pass. He made four tackles, but had a bad miss on a potential 3rd-and-1 stop where he just didn’t get low enough. His angles in pursuit were poor as well, but his top job (coverage) got the thumbs up in this one.
-We saw a bigger rotation between Deonte Banks and Cor’Dale Flott. Banks’ 29 snaps (and two kick returns by the way) were very up-and-down, but more of the latter. He had a nice pass break-up on a short pass in the fourth quarter but he made three big mistakes. One, he got beat badly on a double route which ended in a touchdown for LAC, and he lost outside contain twice. Banks’ game simply lacks discipline and sixth sense. At this point, he is only a good athlete who happens to play football. Flott allowed all 5 passes thrown his way to be completed, but did a solid job of limiting yards after catch as well. He played 11 snaps inside for the second straight week.
SAFETY
-Jevon Holland missed some time at the end of the second quarter with a neck injury but he returned in the second half. He had 4 tackles with one miss and a near-interception on a deflection. He was flagged for illegal contact on a third-down stop where Lawrence batted a pass at the line. Dane Belton came in for Holland and also played in the three-safety looks. He was in on three tackles, but he was a half-second too late on the long touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston. Belton has shown some solid play in deep coverage, but he simply didn’t see it fast enough.
-Tyler Nubin had four tackles, including a nice open field solo one early on against Hampton. It was a physical hit. He made four tackles, but missed two more and we have reached the point where this is a credible issue. For the most part, NYG has done a solid job tackling, but Nubin is the weak link. No defensive back in the NFL has missed more than him this season (8) and he has now played 17 games in the NFL. He has zero interceptions and just one pass break-up.
SPECIAL TEAMS
-K Jude McAtamney: 2/2 (Made 22, 31)
McAtamney played in the second game of his career and is now 3/3 lifetime on field goals. He will fight newly signed veteran Younghoe Koo for a job over the remainder of the year, but he has the inside position.
-P Jamie Gillan: 5 punts / 48.8 avg – 43.8 net
3 STUDS
-CB Andru Phillips, ED Abdul Carter, ED Brian Burns
3 DUDS
-OT Jermaine Eluemunor, S Tyler Nubin, CB Deonte Banks
3 THOUGHTS ON LAC
(1) The Chargers, on paper, should be one of the best teams in football. Simply, a very good roster with a very good quarterback and a very good head coach usually leads to a lot of wins. Then why did I pick them to go 6-11? Which, right now, looks like a foolish call. There were a few reasons and I am still holding onto a couple of them. First, I think the AFC West may be the most competitive division in football. I believe in Denver big time and Kansas City is still such a tough team to beat. I expect them to be where LAC is and then LAC to be where KC is in relation to .500 within a month or two. Quentin Johnston is not a natural pass catcher and I expect his hot start to subside, Their offensive line is very banged up. And Herbert has really struggled late in games when they’re close. I don’t see the depth on either side of the ball. While they will likely finish better than 6-11, I’m not sold they are going to be above .500.
(2) Omarion Hampton did not get enough pre-draft hype. Too much of the attention went to Ashton Jeanty. I noted in my report on him how much he reminded me of the Saquon Barkley profile back in 2018, but he was a tier or two below when it came to sudden change-of-direction and pass-game impact. Nonetheless, this game was a glimpse of what he can be. With Najee Harris out for the year, he could end up being top five in touches by year-end, especially on a team with limitations at pass-catcher.
(3) I watched this tape extra-close from the quarterback perspective and I’ll tell you what, there was some phD level defensive scheming on display from coordinator Jesse Minter. The 42-year old has worked on the defensive side of the ball for both Harbaugh brothers, as he worked as a defensive backs coach in Baltimore from 2017-2020 (a top-5 defense in the league over than span). He won a National Championship with Michigan and in his first year with LAC, he made them the #1 defense league-wide in points against after four straight seasons of being 21st or worse. He is going to be a head coach soon.
3 CLOSING THOUGHTS
(1) Look, I know the finger pointer and victim in all of us wants to throw our hands in the air feeling unlucky about the Malik Nabers injury while blaming turf. The reality is, injuries are a part of the game and guys go down with season enders every week. I just watched Tyreek Hill destroy his knee, and last week Arizona lost their best offensive player and Nick Bosa tore his ACL, leaving San Francisco vulnerable. While this takes some wind out of the sails, I would rather approach it with the mindset of seeing who will step up and who can develop chemistry with Dart. The last sliver of light is peeking in for Hyatt before that door is shut, Slayton is Dart’s version of what Amani Toomer provided for Eli Manning (established and reliable but not a weekly difference-maker). Robinson and Skattebo can be underneath threats who benefit from creative release points. Theo Johnson can get more consistent targets. Beaux Collins can get a real opportunity at some point. There are options here to work with and there is no reason in trading for anyone (NYG is already without their third rounder) or sign someone off the couch like washed-up Gabe Davis, Nelson Agholor, Tyler Boyd, or Allen Robinson who simply will not be a part of the future. Roll with what you have.
(2) I have said it before and I will say it one more time. I got some heat for it in August, but I’ll die on this hill. Dart needs to tone it down as a ball carrier. If he continues to take big hits (by choice), it will get the fans pumped and look cool in highlights. It will also put him on IR at some point. The throwing-hand slap to cornerback Cam Hart’s helmet on his long run that got called back? Bet your bottom dollar every defender coming up on the schedule will take note. They want nothing more than to hit a quarterback and the fact he won’t slide is going to get him hurt and we will be watching whoever the backup is again.
(3) A winnable game against New Orleans next week can put NYG a game under .500 with three nasty games, two of which on the road coming up. Without getting that far ahead, what do we want to see from a young team about to go for a second straight victory? A feat they have not accomplished since October 23, 2022. The identity of the offense needs to be more versatile than handing the ball off and hoping to simply play smash mouth. Without Nabers and with a rookie quarterback, defenses will be run-defense biased. I would love to see some play-action, different personnel groupings, and misdirection. The New Orleans defense is terrible on third down and in the red zone. The Giants offense is the worst in the red zone and sixth-worst on third down, making this a prime opportunity to fix these problems or make some progress at least. Dart is such a better athlete than Wilson that I think we can see more lateral play calls when they are near the end zone. Lastly, it is time to try and force some deep passes to Hyatt and see what happens. That is what I want to see Sunday.