Big Blue View
After a dismal three-week stretch in which they blew a big fourth-quarter lead and got blown out twice, the New York Giants found themselves in the (literally) windy city of Chicago needing to win seven of their final eight games to have a reasonable hope of making the NFL Playoffs at 9-8.
So you’re telling me there’s a chance?
Well, no. Today’s game against the Chicago Bears would mostly be the start of an eight-week referendum on whether the Giants’ coaching staff and players could remedy season-long (three seasons-long, actually) problems that have caused this team to under-perform, and worse yet this year, anyway, to under-perform their talent level.
The votes on this referendum may be in after only one week. What did we learn from the Giants’ 24-20 loss to the Bears?
Jaxson Dart is the most exciting thing to happen to the Giants since…maybe since Lawrence Taylor. I’m old enough to remember when LT joined the Giants in 1981, the immediate impact he had, and how he changed the whole mood surrounding the team in the wink of any eye. The Giants have had many great players since then, but none who were as exciting right away. Odell Beckham Jr. came close, perhaps, but nothing beats a franchise quarterback.
Today Dart was doing all the great things we’ve seen him do almost since he first stepped onto the field as a Giant: The ability to read defenses and go past his first read, the ability to layer the ball into intermediate depths against a zone defense, the way he sees the full field, the ability to manipulate the pocket…and of course, his legs, which have been used to remarkable effect. Today he had two more rushing TDs, bringing his season total to seven, and 242 passing yards in less than a full game. He’s taken a beating, though, and today the chickens finally came home to roost.
The Giants had the ball with a 17-7 lead late in the third quarter inside Bears territory when Dart took off on a run, was hit, fumbled, and hit his head on the ground. The Giants were marching toward a possible TD that would have given them a three-score lead. Dart left the game with what turned out to be a concussion. The game turned right there.
We hope that Dart will not miss a game, but more importantly, we hope that this is not the start of a recurring problem that could affect his career. He has a role to play in that. He has to learn to be smarter when he has the ball and not insist on getting every yard. A long productive career will be better than a “what could have been” career shortened by this type of injury.
Every now and then it’s good to remember the eternal wisdom of Herm Edwards:
The context of Edwards’ rant was teams not giving...
