This week, we’re joined by Ed Valentine of our Giants sister site, Big Blue View, to help us preview this week’s matchup in New York.
The main headline of this game is rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart’s first
career start following the benching of Russell Wilson after three consecutive losses to begin the season. He’ll get his first taste of starting action against one of the best defenses in the league — and it remains to be seen if that’ll end up being a good or bad thing in his future development.
But for now, let’s get into our conversation with Valentine and see what we can learn about this week’s opponent from someone who knows them best!
1.) Brian Daboll did not wait long to yank Russell Wilson and give rookie Jaxson Dart the reigns of the offense. What was your initial reaction to the news? Do you believe it’s the best decision for the long-term or do you think it’s putting a band-aid on a larger issue?
I was not surprised at all when Daboll made the move, to be honest. The Giants are 9-28 since the start of the 2023 season, 3-17 since the beginning of 2024 and have lost 14 of their last 15. Except for the Week 3 explosion against Dallas, the offense was anemic with Russell Wilson at quarterback. Daboll’s job is in jeopardy, and he might get fired if the Giants lose this week to the chargers and next week to the completely awful Saints.
Dart is a guy Daboll banged the table for the Giants to go get. Playing him was the last card Daboll had in his hand before being forced to turn in his key card. There’s no way he wasn’t going to play it.
I think there are other issues. Some of those are Daboll’s doing, some are organizational. I think, though, that where the Giants are there was no point in playing a 14-year veteran who won’t be part of the future and was making far too many mistakes. You live with those if they come from a rookie. You can’t have them from a guy in his 14th year.
2.) What are some silver linings you can pick out from the Giants’ 0-3 start? Are they as bad as their record suggests? Have you seen anything that makes you believe they could turn their fortunes around this season?
In all honesty, I believe this is the most talented Giants roster in the four years of the GM Joe Schoen/head coach Brian Daboll era. They are 0-3 and deserve to be because they have had opportunities to win all three games and missed them. But, the Commanders, Cowboys and chiefs are all quality teams. The Giants schedule is ridiculously hard, on paper.
They have a defense that has the talent to be a top 10 group in the NFL. They have the talent to be a middle of the pack team on offense. They “should” be a team that no one really wants to play. They quite simply, though, don’t seem to know how to win games.
3.) If you were Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman, how would you go about attacking this Giants defense? Which matchups would you attempt to exploit?
We know that Roman and Jim Harbaugh want to run the football. They want to be the physically dominant team. The Giants have been terrible defending the run for 2+ seasons now, and even with much better personnel that hasn’t shown signs of changing.
In the passing game, I think Los Angeles has more good wide receivers than the Giants can consistently cover. Slot cornerback Dru Phillips is a good player who is off to a bad start. Any time Tae Banks is on the field, he is a guy you want to go after. Paulson Adebo is the Giants’ CB1, but he has yet to show he can be a difference-maker. I don’t think there is anyone in that secondary you game play to stay away from.
I think you do everything you can to neutralize the pass rush of Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter. If you do that, you will find success.
4.) If you were Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, how would you game plan against Dart and the Giants offense? Are there any other players aside from Malik Nabers that you would have to account for?
Well, first of all I think you look at the film from the first three games and throw most of it out. I think you game plan for the reality that the quarterback run game with zone reads and RPOs will be a big part of what we see. I think we will see a lot of shotgun, and a fair amount of hurry up/no huddle. Those are things Dart did a lot at Ole Miss, and they should be staples as he gets his feet wet.
The Commanders and Chiefs had success dealing with Nabers by playing a lot of two-high and not letting him get over the top. I think you want to see if the Giants have an answer for that. They did not last week. I think the Giants will target Nabers early and often. This will be a 12-15-target game for him.
Wan’Dale Robinson is a quality slot receiver and one of the most reliable third-down targets in the league. On third-and-5 or so he is almost always Option A. He has also shown more ability this year to get down the field. Darius Slayton is a good wide receiver who can be a big-play threat.
If you are Minter, you want to try to confuse Dart. You want to stress the offensive line, especially the questionable interior of it, with stunts, twists and blitzes to see if you can break the Giants; offense down.
5.) Go ahead and give us a few lines on how you see this game shaking out and don’t forget to top it all off with a final score prediction.
I think the Giants will play with energy and passion. Dart, Nabers and rookie running back Cam Skattebo bring a lot of that. The defense will bring that if they can get to Herbert or create a couple of takeaways. I think, though, that the Giants will — as usual — make too many mistakes, miss too many opportunities, play with too little discipline to beat a good team. I’ll say Chargers 27, Giants 20.
