Big Blue View
The New York Giants 34-25 victory over the Buffalo Bills was marked by a number of positive developments.
The first team offense and defense both performed well. Russell Wilson led a methodical 12-play drive that ended in just three points.
The team was driving but two penalties on James Hudson III stalled the effort that ended in Graham Gano’s first field goal, a 53-yarder. Penalties have plagued the Giants’ offense all training camp. The sloppiness must drive Brian Daboll crazy; rookie tight end Thomas Fidone II also committed a false start on a 12 personnel play in the second quarter; he quickly left the field after the play.
The Giants’ first-team defense, sans Dexter Lawrence, harassed Mitchell Trubisky and the Bills’ (mostly) first team offense. Abdul Carter and Brian Burns were explosive and everywhere on the field throughout plays. Micah McFadden had this crushing hit on Ray Davis:
Rakeem Nunez-Roches and Roy Robertson-Harris – the hyphenated duo – started for the Giants and the latter had a few positive plays before he was eventually called for a roughing the passer. As Carl Banks and Bob Pappa claimed after the play when referencing hitting quarterbacks in modern football – “gotta lay them on the pillow.” I agree and the hit wasn’t too egregious. Nevertheless, Robertson-Harris was flagged, but the Giants forced a punt four plays later.
The story of the game was Jaxson Dart, who finished 12 of 19 for 154 yards with a touchdown and three rushes on the ground for 24 yards. He targeted Montrell Washington six times, and the young receiver caught three passes for 60 yards with two third down drops. Dart had a solid showing to start his career. Let’s get into it.
Mike Kafka was timely with his play calls during Dart’s second drive of the game; a drive that ended with this 28-yard touchdown pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey:
Dart was not flawless on the drive but he showed resilience and toughness, standing in the pocket through a big T.J. Sanders (98) hit on the touchdown throw. Kafka did well to help Dart extend the drive with this short-screen pass to Dante “Turbo” Miller (25):
Washington put a few defenders into a spin cycle directly after Miller’s 18-yard gain. Washington picked up 29 yards on this play:
Dart set Giants’ social media ablaze with this first successful drive. He got nailed and led Humphrey into the end zone, allowing the wide receiver to run underneath the pass and secure it for six. Dart, however, was not done making plays.
Dart was not perfect throughout the game. There were plays where he looked unsure, but he would quickly find an answer or attempt to use his legs. He also missed some throws high, but also had accurate quick game passes that were on time and in rhythm. Dart’s 19-yard rush below on first-and-10 displayed the toughness and moxie that we’ve so often heard about:
Dart also did well...
