The stakes were high at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Brian Daboll could have waited until next week to make Jaxson Dart the New York Giants’ starter at quarterback to face the 0-3 New Orleans Saints, who have given up 90 points, on the road. Instead, he decided to have Dart face the 3-0 Los Angeles Chargers, who had only given up 50 points, at home, where the boo birds were out in force last week. In principle this might temporarily silence the critics, who would be likely to cut Dart some slack. On
the other hand, another desultory offensive performance might cast further doubt on the reputations of Daboll and offensive coordinator as offensive gurus.
That wasn’t the only gamble. The Giants decided only to have two running backs active with injured Tyrone Tracy Jr. out, rather than elevating Turbo Miller from the practice squad. They also brought Jude McAtamney, with one game of NFL experience, up from the practice squad to handle kicking duties rather than veteran Younghoe Koo.
So what did we learn from the Giants’ gutsy, shocking, saddening 21-18 victory over the Chargers?
None of that matters when the pass rush wreaks havoc
In fairness to the Chargers, they were already missing starting right tackle Rashawn Slater and guard Mekhi Becton. When star left tackle Joe Alt went down early in the game, though, the Chargers’ offensive line began to resemble the Giants’ line from early in the 2023 season. Dexter Lawrence pressured Justin Herbert, then blocked his pass attempt, intercepted it, and returned it all the way to the Chargers’ 3-yard line. Lawrence otherwise had another quiet day, but the same cannot be said about the edge defenders. The Giants pressured Herbert a ridiculous 27 times. They only sacked him twice, but they hit him 11 times. Herbert is a big boy and he can take it, I’m sure, but the expectation of pressure has to get to any quarterback (well, maybe not Eli Manning in the Giants’ 2011 NFC Championship victory over Jim Harbaugh’s 49ers). Herbert, one of the NFL’s elite QBs, still had 203 passing yards, but he only had one TD and was intercepted twice, and his 56.1% completion rate indicates that he was getting rid of the ball under non-ideal conditions.
Abdul Carter, four games into his NFL career, still doesn’t have a sack…but he did pressure Herbert an amazing nine times with five QB hits. After playing some off-ball when the Giants had a linebacker shortage, Carter spent 41 of his 46 snaps today on the edge. Brian Burns joined the party with six pressures, including a sack and three hits. His sack of Herbert for a 16-yard loss on third-and-9 with 3:46 left was arguably the game-winning play for the Giants. Kayvon Thibodeaux also contributed five pressures, including a sack and two QB hits.
Jaxson Dart wasn’t a bullseye, but…
Dart’s NFL debut was not the stuff of legend. It didn’t recall memories of Daniel Jones’ stirring comeback against Tampa Bay in his first start in 2019. But then again, the Chargers’ defense isn’t the 2019 Buccaneers’ defense. His first career TD “pass” was a 4-yard shovel to Theo Johnson (admittedly a nice play call). His first NFL TD was on a 15-yard run, not a pass. Overall, Dart was only 13-of-20 for 111 yards, and it was clear that the Giants didn’t want him to do a lot in the passing game. He did, though, take the occasional deep shot, most notably one to the mostly-forgotten-but-not-anymore Darius Slayton for 44 yards and another one we’d rather forget about (more on that in a minute). His 96.0 passer rating was neither remarkable nor terrible for a rookie making his first start. He also looked a bit confused at times, and once he apparently injured his leg late in the first half the Giants became even more conservative.
Still, it was clear that the offense rallied around Dart and drew strength from his toughness and confidence. What we can say after one start is that (1) we don’t know whether Dart is going to be a great NFL passer, but (2) if he can be even good, he may succeed in the win column where it matters because he appears to be a natural leader. Unfortunately, they are going to need that from him because…
MetLife strikes again
We know that NFL players hate the MetLife turf. It was replaced two years ago, and I’m not sure if there is any data on ACL and other similar leg injuries on the new turf vs. the old. On X during the game, after Nabers’ apparent ACL tear, per @RapSheet and @TomPelissero, fans on X were naturally blaming the turf. I don’t know if the issue is settled, but here are the conclusions of one study done by UC San Francisco:
Were there injuries that occurred more frequently on artificial turf compared to grass?
The most common injuries in our study, both for artificial turf and natural grass, were ACL injuries. There were statistically higher rates of ACL injuries that needed surgery on artificial turf compared to grass. Achilles tendon injuries were the second most common to require surgery – and they, too, were more likely to occur on field turf.
Why are turf fields associated with more injuries compared to grass?
It’s probably multi-factorial. But we know that artificial turf does not absorb as much force for the player’s knee and ankle, which increases the risk of injury. Artificial turf also does not release cleats as easily and puts more strain on a player’s extremities through greater force and increased torque.
MetLife is a complicated situation, since the Giants share it with the Jets and both tenants would have to agree to make the move. It doesn’t sound as if it will be happening anytime soon. MetLife had grass installed in the summer of 2024 for Copa America soccer games, and they will again for the 2026 World Cup finale, but that doesn’t mean they’ll keep it for the 2026 football season. The grass to be used for the World Cup is apparently different than the type that would be suitable for a winter sport like football in a cold winter climate. Giants’ co-owner John Mara was quoted in The Athletic:
“I want to get to the point where the experts can tell us that late in the season we can have a safe, playable grass field,” Mara said. “When we get to that point, then maybe we make the switch. We’re not there yet.
“With the amount of events in our building, particularly during the football season, having two teams there and how many times last year we had back-to-back games where it rained during the first game, I can’t imagine what a grass field would look like on that second day.”
With Aaron Rodgers losing his 2023 season to a MetLife Achilles’ injury and now Malik Nabers possibly losing his 2025 season to an ACL tear, what will it take for ownership to bring back grass?
What we’re about to learn: How will the Giants score points this season?
I don’t know the answer. Cam Skattebo is a really nice running back (79 yards today), although if teams watch tape they will see that tackling him low is the way to limit his effectiveness. Give the forgotten Devin Singletary props too, for his 28 yards today on four carries. When Tyrone Tracy Jr. returns his elusiveness will provide a great change of pace from the bulldozer Skattebo. And of course Dart, assuming his leg injury heals or is manageable, showed today what a threat he is with his legs.
The problem is that the Giants just don’t have a good run-blocking offensive line. Late in the game, when the Giants surprisingly moved the ball mostly on the ground to the Chargers’ 4-yard line and had four cracks to salt the game away, they couldn’t get the ball in the end zone on three runs, and then Wan’Dale Robinson couldn’t hold Dart’s apparent TD pass in the end zone on fourth down.
I don’t want to be too picky about this. The Giants did have 161 rushing yards today, albeit 54 of them by Dart. But when the Giants are down near the goal line and just have to bully the ball into the end zone, this OL just can’t do it. It’s a subset of the overall red zone problems that have been obvious since the opening game in Washington.
The problem is, without Nabers, can the Giants have a productive passing offense? After Nabers’ injury, the Giants remembered that Darius Slayton was still on the team. Still, though, a receiving corps of Slayton, Robinson, and Jalin Hyatt or Beaux Collins isn’t going to scare most defenses. Maybe Mike Kafka will finally start using his tight ends as receivers more and ditch the 11 personnel grouping Daboll is so fond of. I would not be unhappy if Daniel Bellinger became an important part of this offense again as he was in 2022, and if Theo Johnson started to realize the potential that Joe Schoen saw in him.
If not, we better hope that pass rush can fire on all cylinders every week. One good omen, though – the last time the Giants beat the Chargers at home was 1986. Speaking of omens: I play word games in the morning while I eat breakfast. One of them is a four-letter version of Wordle. Here was today’s puzzle:
