Giants-Vikings analysis: Jaxson Dart’s bad game isn’t cause for alarm

Did you REALLY think New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart was going to get through his first season in the NFL without a game like the one he had Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings? A game where he, you know, actually looked and played like a rookie quarterback?

Overmatched on Sunday against a talented defense and a fantastic coordinator with something to prove against a team he is suing, Dart had his worst game as a pro. He completed just 7 of 13 passes for 33 yards and an interception, and was probably lucky not to have a couple of other passes intercepted.

Dart looked confused at times. He looked uncertain. He looked like a quarterback who needed help and knew he really didn’t have any.

Now, suddenly, because for the first time all season a rookie quarterback looked like a rookie quarterback the narrative is that Dart is regressing and that the Giants hurt the rookie’s development by firing head coach Brian Daboll.

In my view, that is an overreaction.

• Josh Allen had back-to-back starts as a rookie where he threw for 82 and 84 yards.
• Box Nix of the Denver Broncos has a game last season during which he passed for 60 yards.
• Eli Manning had a game as a rookie where he completed 4 of 18 passes for 27 yards.

All week leading up to the game Dart and the Giants talked about how this game against Flores, one of the best and most aggressive defensive schemers in the business, and a good, veteran Minnesota defense, would be the biggest challenge Dart had faced. The Giants knew this would be a difficult game and a learning experience for the rookie.

The Giants were missing their No. 1 wide receiver. In fact, they were pretty much missing any pass catcher who could actually make a play. How many times on Sunday did Justin Jefferson remind us that a great wide receiver can make just about any quarterback look better than he actually is?

The Giants played much of the game without three-fifths of their starting offensive line.

Did you really expect this one to be smooth sailing for Dart?

Yes, Mike Kafka’s Giants game plan was conservative. Perhaps a few play-action throws on first down might have been in order. Fifteen consecutive running plays is a lot, but there were two sacks and two penalties when the Giants did try to throw during that stretch.

I think the comparison BBV’s Tony DelGenio made from Sunday’s game to the Week 17 game in 2021 that made it clear Joe Judge needed to be fired is off base. In that game, the Giants were behind 14-0 before quarterback Mike Glennon completed a pass. They trailed 22-3 at halftime, yet Glennon attempted only 11 passes in the entire game. On the Giants’ final possession of the game they simply handed the ball to Saquon Barkley three straight times.

Sunday’s plan wasn’t as conservative as you might think. The Giants ran 56 total plays. They called 31 designed runs and 25 passes. Dart was sacked five times. He scrambled twice. Five passes were wiped off the board by penalties, a couple of those roughing the passer calls against Minnesota.

The makeshift offensive line didn’t help him. Dart was sacked five times, hit six, and forced to scramble on two occasions.

The second time Dart dropped back to pass he was sacked and took one of two helmet-to-helmet hits he endured during the game — without a concussion check. The third time he dropped back to pass, on a fourth-and-5 at the Minnesota 10-yard line, he got sacked. He was constantly under duress.

The pass catchers, and we have to use that term loosely, didn’t help him.

On the Giants’ second drive, Dart tried to pass twice. Theo Johnson dropped one. Dart was sacked on the other.

The next time Dart tried to pass, Johnson dropped his second pass in as many targets. This one turned into an interception that set up the Vikings in the red zone and led to a touchdown.

In the second quarter, Wan’Dale Robinson could not come up with a floater from Dart that would have been a big play with a better throw. I don’t consider that a drop. Others do. On the Giants’ final drive, Darius Slayton dropped a ball that would have given the Giants a first down around the Minnesota 45-yard line. The Giants, of course, turned the ball over on downs.

Does Dart miss Daboll? Probably. In three-and-a-half years, though, Daboll showed he wasn’t the right coach for the Giants’ TEAM. Is Kafka the answer as the next head coach? No. That’s clear.

Have the Giants already screwed up their prized rookie quarterback? If they maintain the No. 1 pick the draft, do they need to trade him and start over with Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza? No. That’s complete nonsense.

Dart played a bad game against a defense, and a masterful defensive coordinator who has made a lot of quarterbacks look terrible. He played like a confused rookie, which was bound to happen at some point.

What was clear to me is that if Dart is ever going to be the quarterback he has flashed the ability to be the Giants need to get him more help. A lot more.

More things I think

• If you needed evidence of what a great playmaker can do for a struggling quarterback all you had to do was watch Jefferson help J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer on Sunday. Jefferson’s 22-yard catch on Minnesota’s game-winning drive, diving and toe-dragging, was a superstar play that made a winner out of Brosmer. Jefferson also turned several underneath throws on third-and-10 or more into catch-and-run first downs.
• It’s small consolation, but the Giants’ defense has been better and much more creative with interim coordinator Charlie Bullen at the controls. The Giants gave up just 3.7 yards per attempt against the run on Sunday, their best in a while. If Bullen ever gets an opportunity as a full-time DC, with the Giants or elsewhere, I’m curious to see how it turns out.
• I am not looking forward to this week’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders, which will feature a full week of discussion about the Giants needing to lose the game so they don’t screw up having the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. I get the idea of controlling the draft, but I always hate the idea of fans rooting against their own team.