Big Blue View
One quarter. One bad quarter for the New York Giants was the difference between a third statement win in four weeks and another heart wrenching loss. This time, it was the Giants surrendering a 26-8 lead over the Denver Broncos and falling 33-32.
The turning point in the game was rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart’s interception in the fourth quarter. The Broncos quickly turned the pick into their second touchdown in just 2 minutes, 24 seconds of game clock. Like a flash, the Giants’ 26-8 lead was trimmed to 26-23.
The interception came on third-and-5 at the Giants’ 35-yard line, as the Giants were trying to protect a 26-16 lead with 4:56 left in the game. Conventional wisdom holds that the Giants should have run the ball three times to minimize the risk of turnover as well as keep the clock moving. However, they elected to throw a pass after picking up 5 yards on the ground with their first two downs.
It was an aggressive decision, and one born of the coaching staff’s absolute confidence in rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart.
“I think those decisions always come down to just your confidence level in the quarterback and in the players,” offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said.
“I have a tremendous amount of confidence in Jaxson and the ability to put the ball in his hands in certain situations, whether it’s third down, whether it’s fourth down. You saw that in the Chargers game, third down in the Chargers game to Theo (Johnson), big play. You saw it at the end of the game against Denver, first and goal at the one, putting the ball in his hands.”
Kafka also said that a similar situation came up in the Giants’ game-planning during the week, and he said that their confidence in Dart made it an easy call.
“When we talked about it as a staff early in the week, you look at the ‘gotta have its’ and the plays that we like, that was the one that was high on our list,” he said. “We talked about it, really, two drives before that even came up. And in the four-minute ‘gotta have its,’ we talk about it on Saturday night. It’s the same thing. We go through the checklists and walk through those plays and talk about them. So, when you get in that situation, it’s an easy, fast call. The guys can get up and go, and then go operate it.”
Kafka noted that his confidence in Dart comes from watching every pass he’s made as a member of the New York Giants.
“I have a lot of confidence in putting the ball in his hands there and putting the ball in our offensive line’s hands and having the ability for our skill guys to go,” he said.
While Pro Football Focus may have graded Dart as the worst player on the Giants’ offense against the Broncos, others noted that Dart has made incredible progress over the course of his...
