It was almost the perfect script for Jaxson Dart’s first NFL career start.
Dart created highlights with his legs and made clutch throws with his arm, the big-money defense made big stands and the Giants surprisingly got into the win column by taking down the undefeated Chargers with a 21-18 victory at MetLife Stadium.
“Let’s go Giants” chants echoed through a beaten-down home crowd in the fourth quarter for the first time in ages.
And yet … a pit in the stomach could not be ignored.
There were no banner-bearing planes flying over the stadium — reportedly canceled because of the weather — but there was a dark cloud.
Superstar receiver Malik Nabers suffered what is feared to be a season-ending torn ACL during the first half, meaning that visions of Dart-to-Nabers turning around the franchise’s vibes will be put on hold until 2026.
Maybe, if Dart continues to play winning ball, embattled head coach Brian Daboll will be around to see it.
The Giants opened Dart’s first career start on fire, with an 89-yard touchdown drive capped by Dart’s athleticism and a lead that lasted the entire game. After two connections to Nabers for 20 yards and a 14-yard penalty on a third attempt to his No. 1 receiver, Dart found a parted sea and ran for a 15-yard touchdown.
The defense made three first-quarter stops, the last of which energized the home crowd almost as much as Dart.
The Giants led 10-3 when all the air left East Rutherford.
Given a free play by an offside call, Dart threw a jump ball down the visitor’s sideline to Nabers, whose right knee appeared to buckle as he leapt. Nabers was in extreme pain and the Giants’ sideline emptied to check on their superstar.
The crowd collectively gasped at the sight of the cart entering the field for Nabers. He raised his hand in appreciation of their support but buried his face in a towel before disappearing into the tunnel.
The drive finished with a limping Dart leading the way to a field goal, but the Chargers closed the gap to 13-10 before halftime on a busted third-down coverage by Deonte Banks and late help from safety Dane Belton.
Dart passed a concussion test early in the third quarter — unrelated to his hamstring and the result of a hit at the end of a long run that was negated by a holding penalty. While he was sidelined, benched veteran Russell Wilson took two snaps, including a sack on which he recovered his own fumble.
Cheered loudly during pregame warmups and before taking his first snap, Dart joined Giants great Phil Simms and became just the seventh NFL quarterback since 1970 to beat an undefeated team with at least three wins in his first career start.
The Giants defense offered plenty of help to its rookie first-round quarterback.
Not only did Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux both tally five quarterback pressures in the first half, the allergic-to-interceptions Giants picked off two passes — one in each half — and had long returns inside the 5-yard line.
Dexter Lawrence’s first career interception turned into three points because of conservative play-calling — three runs and Daboll’s out-of-character decision to kick a 22-yard field goal — and Dru Phillips’ sliding catch as a penalty flag flew was a heads-up play. It seemed most players expected defensive pass interference but the call went against Chargers tight end Tyler Conklin and the takeaway stood.
When closers were needed, Brian Burns sacked Herbert for a 16-yard loss that ended any chance of the Chargers going for a fourth down and forced a punt at the three-minute mark. Cor’Dale Flott ended the Chargers’ last gasp hope by tackling Quentin Johnston in bounds as the clock expired — before another long field-goal could be tried to devastate the Giants.
But Dart was a closer, too. One of the biggest completions on a ledger of 13-of-20 for 111 yards was a third-and-5 strike to Theo Johnson that ran more clock and forced the Chargers to run out of timeouts.
Desperate for a red-zone spark after four miserable games in close, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka stole a play from the Chiefs’ playbook. Dart shoveled the pass to Johnson — a Patrick Mahomes to Travis Kelce favorite — for his first career touchdown pass and a 21-10 lead after Cam Skattebo added the two-point conversion.
If you thought that was going to be a turning point in the playbook, think again.
Clinging to a 21-18 lead in the fourth quarter, the Giants had a chance to ice a victory on first-and-goal at the 4-yard line. Skattebo’s three-yard carry set up second down from the 1-yard line and … a Skattebo run for no gain, a Dart two-yard loss and an incompletion in the scramble drill after Daboll eschewed a gimme field goal to make it a two-score game.
Dart tried floating the ball to Wan’Dale Robinson, who was crushed by Alolhi Gilman as the ball popped free.
The defense answered the bell to start the Nabers-less Dart Era.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
