The New York Giants shocked the nation a week ago as they took down the reigning Super Bowl champs on Thursday Night Football. They now find themselves approaching what could be the most important game of the year for them.
The Giants are poised to take on the trash-talking Denver Broncos in a road tilt this Sunday, and it carries significance for a variety of reasons.
The first being that it is the first game after a massive upset on national television that showed the world who Cam Skattebo and Jaxson Dart really are. All eyes will be on them to see if they are the real deal and can back up last week’s performance. Skattebo is coming off a 3-touchdown performance in which he tallied up 110 yards.
Jaxson Dart threw for 195 yards and 1 touchdown while rushing in another one and accumulating 58 yards on the ground as well. He led 5 touchdown drives against the mighty Eagles and continuously made the right throws at the right time. It was a vintage “college” Dart performance and he let the world know that no matchup is too overwhelming for him.
The defense made huge plays and kept the field tilted in the Giants favor throughout the entire second half. It was a performance that Giants fans have not seen in a long time.
As a fan of the team, I am approaching this Broncos game with caution as I am unfortunately wired to temper expectations and expect regression. All I want is for that to be untrue, but only time and more experience for these players will tell the story. This is exactly why this game carries much significance. It can open the door for discussion on whether the Giants are actual contenders or if last week was a fluke and they will just be a team that occasionally plays “spoiler” this season.
The Broncos are a legitimate playoff contender, so a Giants victory would mean a few things. Not only would it be another upset, but it would also be Jaxson Dart’s third win in four games and all 3 wins would be against very good teams. It would show that the Giants are not only a threat, but a team capable of stringing wins together against tough teams.
The Broncos are coming off a win in London against the Jets. Well, calling it a “win” is a stretch but who am I to judge? The Broncos and Jets both actively tried to lose this game. If any other team played instead of the Jets, it likely becomes a loss for Denver. They had 8 different players try to run the ball throughout the game and Dobbins led the way with only 40 yards. Questionable play calling had Adam Prentice, their fullback, rushing the ball on a crucial third and long.
Evan Engram led the team with 6 targets and no receiver was able to gain more than 30 yards. It was a lackluster performance that was highlighted by their own defense sacking Justin Fields 9 times. 9 sacks is impressive, for sure, but it felt more so like the Jets incompetence outweighed Denver’s aggression. It was a good team playing a bad game, and in this case, their defense single handedly won them a game. That can bode well against the Giants, but if Dart and co. do exactly what they did last week, it could be a mismatch for the Broncos.
The Broncos showed a lot of flaws last week, but good teams win those games. They certainly will not play like that every single week, especially when they are at home again, but it allows a conversation to be had. They played an ugly game last week and the Giants played a perfect game. On paper, the Broncos should crush the Giants, but we simply just have no pulse on Dart’s consistency. Will he keep it up? Will he have a classic rookie blowup against an elite defense?
Winning this game is super important because the Giants immediately head to Philadelphia to battle with the Eagles again. If they win in Denver and THAT game too, it is a massive statement to the league on behalf of Jaxson Dart, who would then be 4-4 (4-1 personally) and in command of the division. It would also show that they are able to answer the call when another team has a seemingly endless amount of trash to talk. I am looking at you Nik Bonitto and Jonathan Cooper.
The Giants have a super tough schedule for the next few months and winning now against Denver and Philly changes the expectations for the entire season. They transform from the “layup” on everyone’s schedule to a reasonable threat to win any game.
Expectations need to be tempered right now as the hype around the Giants is the highest it has been in several years. The last thing I want to see is this team fly too close to the sun and explode in grand fashion with the nation’s eyeballs on them. No one is expecting a Super Bowl run or maybe even playoffs, but fans of the storied franchise simply just want hope. Legitimate hope.
They want to know that this young core that just beat the Eagles can string together a handful of wins against a very difficult lineup of teams. They want to ensure that there is a future in place and more importantly, a quarterback to lead it. Each week is precious for this team right now and every win or loss heavily weighs on the future of the entire coaching staff as well.