Matthew Boyle ’28
EE Sport Writer
Monday Night Football. The only thing on TV. Everybody’s watching. It was the heavy super bowl favorites Los Angeles Rams vs. the New York Giants. The Rams had just had a huge offseason. After the Rams made a blockbuster trade to acquire 2-time defensive player of the year Myles Garrett (2023 and 2025, with 2025 being unanimous), along with Super Bowl Champion Aaron Donald making his highly anticipated return, the Rams were heavy favorites in this game.
But, the Giants made their own offseason moves. With a young core consisting of Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattaboo and Malik Nabers, the Giants offense was looking sharp. After firing Head Coach Brian Daboll and hiring legendary Head Coach John Harbaugh, who brought over star tight end Isaiah Likely, the Giants were looking even better. And the defense made it best. Standouts Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibedoux, Abdul Carter and Arvell Reese rounded out the interior with Jevon Holland, Greg Newsome ll and Deontae Banks on the outside.
The Giants were feeling good going into Monday Night, as they should. They were just coming off a huge home win against their division rival Dallas Cowboys, where signs of the team looked really good. The fans were happy as they should be.
Then, tragedy struck for the Giants. On just the 7th play of the entire game, with 11:21 left on the clock in the first quarter, the Rams brought a blitz, with Dart barely throwing it downfield for a pass intended for TE Theo Johnson. Johnson was unable to secure the grab, making Giants fans mad with Dart that he wasn’t able to get the pass off sooner on a crucial 3rd & 8. But that anger was short-lived.
As the camera was brought back to Dart, he was laying on the ground, in severe pain, grabbing that left knee. Giants fans held their breath.
Eventually, Dart walked off the field on his own power and into the locker room. The Giants medical staff walked over to Coach Harbaugh at some point in the second quarter and mouthed something to him. Because the moment was caught on TV, rumors started to fly.
“He’s out, 4-6 months. Minimum.” That sent Giants fans wild. With many fans already calling the season over after watching Jameis Winston play, and they weren’t wrong. The Giants would go on to lose a disappointing game 28-6 with virtually no offense or defense.
After the game, Coach Harbaugh said, “We’ll know more tomorrow. We’ll get an MRI tomorrow and have a really good feel for it. Give you more information then.” That sounded great…for about a day.
Giants fans remained hopeful. Until Adam Schefter posted something.
“Breaking: Further testing today revealed Giants QB Jaxson Dart’s knee injury is worse than initially thought, and the team and Dart now are facing the possibility of season-ending knee surgery, sources tell ESPN.” -Schefter.
After reading that, it felt like the season was over. Giants fans began to look at their odds for the 2027 NFL Draft to land stars like Jeramiah Smith or Arch Manning. Maybe under Brian Daboll they would have quit, but not under Coach Harbaugh. They were not going to quit.
In Week 3, the Giants beat a bad Titans team 12-7. Backup quarterback Jameis Winston showed life, throwing for 118 yards but it wasn’t enough.
So, the Giants made a move. They acquired QB J.J. McCarthy, which fans did not like. JJ, also known as “9” had a bad record with the Vikings.
But he made fans regret their anger, and fast. After coming in late in the fourth quarter against the Saints. JJ threw for 243 passing yards and a touchdown, in one quarter in a near-miracle fourth-quarter comeback. Giants fans soon referred to him as “18”.
JJ wasn’t the only thing that got the Giants back into this season. It was also star wideout Malik Nabers.
After Nabers hauled in one catch for one yard against the Rams, all of the sudden he was back. Nabers proceeded to go for 4 straight 100+ receiving yard games, tying a Giants record. Nabers was back. And so were the Giants.
After beating the Titans, the Giants beat the Cardinals, (tied with the Commanders), then beat a very good Texans team. Recently they beat an Eagles team where they haven’t won in Philadelphia since 2013. And that quarterback everybody said would be terrible? Well, JJ McCarthy currently holds the longest active winning streak for a starting quarterback with 6. The Giants are also 5-2-1.
The Giants have shown major resilience all season in the locker room and on the field. From being a lottery pick team to a playoff team, that’s pretty impressive. Many believe it is simply because of Coach Harbaugh and his ability to light a fire under his players and motivate them so well. After the Giants had their bye week, people were genuinely happy to see the Giants play, in November, something they haven’t seen in a while.
The Giants look to make it 3 in a row against a struggling Washington Commanders team tonight. If the Giants were to win, it would be the first time they had beaten all 3 division opponents in a single season since 2007.