Big Blue View
Good morning, New York Giants fans!
On a scale of 1-10, how badly does this team need to win in Week 4? 4 — The decision to start Dart this week to some degree resets the clock on the panic meter. A loss to the Chargers would be quite understandable in a rookie quarterback’s debut (to the Saints in Week 5 would be a different story). But every successive loss certainly means something because of the heat on Daboll and Schoen. The quarterback change would buy them a reprieve of a couple of weeks, but then they’ll need to show some results.
With so much focus on the Giants’ inconsistent offense, the defense is actually ranked lower, having allowed touchdowns on eight of 10 red zone drives (plus an end-of-half field goal by Kansas City on one of the other two drives). Getting to 0-3 has been a team effort.
The switch from Russell Wilson to rookie first-round pick Jaxson Dart at quarterback entering Week 4 resets the clock on this season. Dart will surely have ups and downs. The Giants might not start winning with any regularity. They will be different, with at least a chance for greater upside at the most important position.
Harbaugh and the Chargers were 4-0 against rookie quarterbacks during the 2024 season. They beat Bo Nix and the Broncos twice and also picked up wins over Drake Maye’s Patriots and Spencer Rattler’s Saints. The two games against the Broncos were both one-score finals, but the Patriots and Saints got blown out. The Chargers, who are favored in Sunday’s road game, also covered the spread in all four games.
In addition to trying to buck the trend of rookie quarterbacks against Harbaugh’s Chargers, Dart will be trying to become the sixth quarterback to beat an undefeated team with at least three wins in their NFL debut. Per ESPN, Phil Simms (1979), Frank Reich (1989), Brett Favre (1992), Jeff Garcia (1999), and Marc Bulger (2002) are the others to accomplish that feat.
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