What did we learn from the Giants’ 31-12 win over the New York Jets?

The annual New York Giants vs. New York Jets preseason game is a strange animal. There is a rivalry, of sorts, between the two teams, but it doesn’t have much juice since the two teams play in different conferences and have both been among the NFL’s worst teams more often than not in recent memory. It’s nothing like Yankees-Mets games, which pit two contenders…oh wait, never mind.

The Jets have had the upper hand lately in both the pre-season (the Giants haven’t won the “Snoopy Bowl” since 2019) and regular season (the Jets have won the last three meetings). If you lament the Giants’ mostly poor play overall since their last Super Bowl, though, Jets’ fans have had it even worse, their team not even sniffing the playoffs since 2010.

This year, Giants fans sense something more important – the possibility that their team may finally be developing some of the pieces needed to become a contender. Could they build on the positives they took from their win over Buffalo last week? Would lingering questions about weak spots begin to be answered? What did playing time and performance tonight tell us about the eventual 53-man roster?

The Jets aren’t the Buffalo Bills, but the Giants’ 31-12 win tonight, their first over their co-tenants in a while, was pretty impressive in several departments. Let’s look at them.

The Giants have a (good) quarterback problem

Not really. Not for the moment. Tonight, though, here’s what we saw:

• Russell Wilson started and played into the second quarter. Midway through the second quarter, we got our first “moon ball.” It was delivered beautifully to Beaux Collins for an 80-yard gain down to the 1-yard line, with Devin Singetary subsequently taking it in for the touchdown. Wilson tried Collins again later, but that ball was intercepted in the end zone, most likely due to Collins reading the safety incorrectly. The Giants have a long and proud history of quarterbacks who loved the deep ball, from Charlie Conerly, Y.A. Tittle, and Fran Tarkenton through to Eli Manning. It’s been years, though, since we saw the Giants open things up on offense, except when Tyrod Taylor was in the game.
• Jaxson Dart entered the game midway through the second quarter. He had no spectacular plays, throwing mostly short (4.1 ADOT) passes, but he looked fully in command of the offense, making quick reads and good decisions. Dart completed 14 of 16 passes for 137 yards and a TD to tight end Greg Dulcich. Of course Sauce Gardner wasn’t out there, but you can only play against the guys who are. He won’t start in Week 1. Maybe he won’t start until Week 18 if Wilson has a successful season. We haven’t seen anything, though, to suggest that the Giants made a mistake moving up to draft him.

Do the Giants no longer have a pass protection problem?

There’s a reason Russell Wilson was able to throw that first quarter moon ball:

And look...