The season has changed for the New York Giants with the loss of Jaxson Dart. Can they begin version 2.0 of their 2026 season with a victory? See how Big Blue View writers answered that question, and how they picked all of the Week 3 NFL action below.
Chris Pflum
This is a game the Giants should win. Or at least they should if Jameis Winston is worth the money he got in his extension, and the coaching staff is as good as we think.
But there’s a lot of unknowns that are giving me pause. How healthy are Andrew Thomas,
Malik Nabers, and Deonte Banks? Can Winston rally the team back from the gut punch of losing Dart in a short week? How quickly can the coaching staff shift gears to reorient the scheme for Winston’s skill set?
On the flip side, are the Titans better than we thought they were? Or are the Eagles worse?
Ultimately, I’m sticking with my pre-season pick of the Giants this week. But now I’m leaning on the Giants’ experienced coaching staff. John Harbaugh and Matt Nagy have been here before, just last year. Meanwhile, Brian Callahan and Dennard Wilson know Cam Ward better than anyone in the NFL.
I’m going to trust that leadership to see the Giants through this week while they figure out their way forward.
I suspect this is going to be a sloppy game, and I don’t feel great about the Giants, but I’m sticking with my pick.
Pick: Giants
Tony DelGenio
It’s anybody’s guess how the Giants will respond to the loss of Jaxson Dart for the season. If Monday night was any indication, we’ve got a problem, but in-game adjustments when playing one of the best teams in the NFL isn’t a fair test. We do have two examples from 2025, when Dart missed games against Green Bay and Detroit after Dart was sidelined with a concussion. Jameis Winston played well enough for the Giants to win both games, but the defense and possibly a bad pass route by Jalin Hyatt ruined any chance for a win. The question is whether this time, knowing Dart is gone for the season, John Harbaugh and the assistant coaches will be able to sufficiently motivate the team to carry on and take tangible steps toward contention in 2028.
This is a unique game because so many ex-Giants are playing or coaching for Tennessee. Whether this gives one team an advantage or not, I don’t know. What I do know is that Cam Ward is still trying to figure things out, that he was greatly affected by pressure against the Eagles (though not against the Jets the previous week), and that he has mostly been throwing short passes. Unfortunately without Brian Burns, pressure is going to have to come from other places. I’d love to see Dennard Wilson get creative with stunts, simulated pressures, etc., to try to keep Ward off balance. Most likely, Brian Daboll will lean on the run game with Tony Pollard, who has four consecutive 1,000 yards seasons, the last two as a Titan.
When the Giants are on offense, the Titans are stout up front with Jeffery Simmons and John Franklin-Myers in the middle and Jermaine Johnson and Jacob Martin on the edge, all of whom have more pressures than any Giant. To me, the game will hinge on whether the Giants’ OL can bounce back from their dismal showing in Los Angeles and creates lanes for Cam Skattebo and time for Winston. Without Dart, this game is more a coin flip than it originally seemed, but I’ll guess that the troops rally and come away with a win.
Pick: Giants
James Hickey
Rahm Emanuel famously said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.”
Over the last decade plus for the New York Football Giants, there seems to be just one crisis after another. The next three weeks present opportunities.
The first is Jameis Winston, the lovable teammate and media personality who must now take over at quarterback. Winston needs to stay away from the big mistake. The 12-year veteran should only be expected to be a game manager who gives the Giants a chance to win.
But the biggest burden— and honestly the most disappointing part of the season so far— falls on the defensive line and more specifically the edge rushers. Quite simply, they are paid to sack the quarterback and Abdul Carter, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux have not made enough of an impact to live up to their buildup the last two years.
Tennessee has a lot of familiar faces coming back to MetLife, led by Brian Daboll, who undoubtedly will be extra motivated to win this week. But a young team playing its first game on the road looking for its first win? Look for the Giants to get a lead early and run the ball effectively as they did in their opening week matchup against Dallas.
Pick: Giants 24, Titans 10
David Hartman
How quickly things can change in the NFL. For the Giants, the euphoria of a huge Week 1 win over the rival Cowboys in prime time quickly gave way to the stomach punch of not only losing to the Rams on Monday night in Week 2, but more importantly losing Jaxson Dart to a knee injury for the remainder of the regular season. It’s been a tough week for the Giants and their fans. Why can’t we have nice things? Talk about a roller coaster…
Now the team – players, coaches, and the rest – must quickly regroup, and the good news is that a home date with the Titans, albeit on a short week, is a fairly soft landing. Tennessee (0-2) gave the Eagles all they wanted last week at home, before predictably losing late, so they aren’t a total pushover. Still, this is a game New York should win, even without Dart, Brian Burns, Paulson Adeebo, and whoever else can’t suit up.
I think John Harbaugh will have his team fired up and ready to play, but will that be enough? Jameis Winston is going to need to play better (and smarter) than he did on Monday night, and hopefully a week of practicing with the 1’s will help. We’ve seen him play well in the past.
As for the Titans, Brian Daboll’s offense hasn’t been great and doesn’t have personnel that should scare Big Blue. Look for Cam Ward to make more mistakes than Winston. The Giants’ defense needs to control this game, and I think they will, even without Burns.
I’ll take the G-Men to take care of business at home. For at least one week, the emotional pendulum will swing back.
Pick: Giants
Valentine’s View
Winning football games got a lot more difficult for the Giants this week with the news about Dart. How much more difficult? Well, perhaps one way to conceptualize it is to look at the point spread. The Giants were 6.5-point favorites as of Monday morning. Now, they are 2.5-point favorites. That is a massive swing in the betting world.
Throw in the reality that it appears edge defender Brian Burns won’t play Sunday, and that complicates matters even more for the Giants.
Still, I think this is a game where the Giants play with emotion and with determination to prove that their season is not lost. I think this is a game where the guiding hand of John Harbaugh should have a steadying impact.
I also think the Giants are fortunate to be playing an 0-2 team that isn’t very good, even if the Titans did push the Philadelphia Eagles to the final minute in Week 2.
I’m concerned about a lot of things with this Giants team. The quarterback play. The lack of explosive plays on offense. The defense as a whole, especially if the pass rush doesn’t impact games.
I think, though, that they have enough to win on Sunday.
Pick: Giants
