The big thing everyone connected with the New York Giants is thinking about in the wake of Monday’s lopsided 28-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams is the health of quarterback Jaxson Dart. The Giants appear to have dodged the worst possible news, with the expectation that imaging on Tuesday will confirm a sprained MCL.
Monday’s outcome, though, exposed a number of things about the 2026 Giants that we have to talk about, and that they have to be concerned about. Let’s look at some of the ‘things I think’
as the Giants try to move on and get ready for a Week 3 game against the Tennessee Titans.
We have to start with Dart.
Not the worst case, but not good
“We’ll know more when we find out more,” Giants coach John Harbaugh said after the game.
Harbaugh did allow that there was “no question” that seeing Dart moving around on the sideline after the game and believing his injury wasn’t season-ending was comforting.
“The fact that it’s not that outcome that you’re talking about, the devastating outcome, is really good news,” he said.
Dart’s injury had nothing to do with all of the ongoing chatter about him not being willing to protect himself by sliding or getting out of bounds when he runs, something he actually did do in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys.
Dart got hurt in the pocket, which, thanks to the NFL rulebook, is actually the safest place for quarterbacks. There is nothing the rules can do, though, to prevent getting sandwiched between two pass rushers and getting your knee inverted in a manner in which it’s not meant to bend.
Maybe Dart misses two weeks. Maybe he misses six. The Giants, driven hard by Harbaugh this spring and summer, are about to best tested in a way they hoped not to be this season.
Giants players have seen and dealt with injuries before. They were saying the right things after the game. Winstn did admit losing Dart was a “gut punch” in the moment.
“You get ready to play another one,” Winston said of what the Giants do now. “You got another opponent and they don’t care.”
“We’re going to continue to practice hard, get out there, be more intentional about what we’ve got to do, what we’ve got to accomplish. Rally around Jameis,” said Malik Nabers.
“For us to come in here and … get punched in the face, you have to get back up and keep going,” right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor said. “There’s still 15 more rounds.”
The bigger issue, beyond how long Dart will be out, is that Monday night exposed many truths about the 2026 Giants. Let’s get to them.
Pump the brakes on expectations
I have been warning for months not to expect a New England Patriots-like turnaround from 4-13 one year to 13-4 and a Super Bowl-berth the next. The most optimistic outcome I could summon for the 2026 Giants when asked to make a prediction was 9-8. Yet, after an impressive season-opening victory over the Dallas Cowboys national analysts were jumping the bandwagon and fans were dreaming big dreams.
The Rams brought those out-sized expectations crashing down to earth.
Matthew Stafford, Davante Adams, Aaron Donald, Sean McVay and the rest of a supremely talented Rams’ roster showed the Giants and a national football audience what a Super Bowl-contending teams looks like.
It ain’t the Giants.
The floor has been raised with the accomplished John Harbaugh as head coach. The eventual ceiling? Unknown, but the Rams exposed a number of things that have to be dealt with to find out.
What are some of those things?
Running the ball without Dart
The Giants averaged 2.5 yards per rush Monday night. Through two games, they average 3.7 yards per carry, 22nd in the NFL. Take out Dart’s 11 carries for 54 yards in Week 1, that average dips to 3.5 yards. The Giants’ longest non-Dart run in two games is 13 yards.
The Giants are built to be a run-first team, and that has to get better.
After a turnover games the Giants the ball on the Rams’ 11-yard line they ran four times (including a 3-yard loss negated by a Los Angeles penalty), got nowhere, and settled for a deflating field goal when down 14-0.
Do they have the interior blocking or the backs to make that better? Maybe, but they need to be better than they were Monday. The Andrew Thomas injury might complicate matters. The Giants were outclassed up front by the Rams. Plus, they had several plays where the timing and execution were off, with players running into each other.
The pass rush
The simple question is, where is it?
This is an incredible stat:
The Giants have just one sack and five quarterback hits in two games. Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson wants to rush just four, which isn’t a horrible goal considering the state of the secondary, but through two games Dak Prescott and Matthew Stafford have stood in the pocket and done basically whatever they wanted to do.
The Giants’ sack percentage of 1.52 is worse than every team in the league except the Miami Dolphins.
With Brian Burns injured, fixing that quickly won’t be easy.
About that secondary
Who knew at the start of training camp that the Giants would miss Tae Banks as much as they did last night? Cornerbacks Colton Hood and Greg Newsome, along with safety Tyler Nubin, were not up to the task of defending Davante Adams. The linebackers and safeties weren’t up to the task of covering tight end Terrance Ferguson.
There are no easy fixes. Dream about a Joey Porter trade if you must, but the Giants really need an offseason where they can add talent via free agency and the draft.
Run defense
One week after an impressive performance vs. Dallas, the Giants allowed the Rams to run for 163 yards on 28 carries, 5.8 per rush. Through two games, the Giants are giving up 5.0 yards per rush, 28th in the NFL.
Talent-wise, this is another area the Giants are going to have to Band-Aid, duct-tape, and scheme around until they can get to the offseason and try to add more young talent.
It was disturbing to see 2025 second-round pick Darius Alexander, who simply does not seem to be improving as a run defender, inactive. The Giants used journeyman Josh Tupou, a practice squad player who appeared in six games with the Ravens the past two seasons, and C.J. Okoye, a Nigerian-born defensive tackle who knew nothing about football until 2023, instead of Alexander.
Not a good sign.
The upcoming schedule
Not that long ago, the upcoming four games (vs. the Tennessee Titans, vs. the Arizona Cardinals, at the Washington Commanders, vs. the New Orleans Saints) was looked at a stretch where the Giants might be able to run off some victories.
Now? Maybe it is still a softer part of the schedule, but there isn’t any certainty that the Giants will be able to take advantage of it.
My last thought is this:
Months of good vibes that began when Harbaugh was hired crumbled on Monday night with the Dart injury and the reality check provided by the Rams. The season, as Eluemunor indicated, will be defined by the next 15 rounds.
Do the Giants have the ability to punch back? We’ll find out.
