The Giants and Jets’ fortunes have flipped… for now.
All of the skepticism and pressure that surrounded the Giants coming into the season has been replaced at the moment by excitement and optimism as rookies Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo infuse their contagious energy and toughness.
The Jets, meanwhile, are floundering as the NFL’s only winless team, erasing the good vibes from a summer in which the organization received praise for making steady moves rather than sexy ones.
“We’ve got to keep going,” quarterback Justin Fields said after Sunday’s 13-11 loss to the Denver Broncos in London, which dropped the Jets’ record to 0-6. “I mean, there’s no other option. There’s, what, 11 games left? That’s the only option.”
New head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey reduced the expectations for the Jets to win immediately with their decision to part with quarterback Aaron Rodgers last spring.
But nobody expected it to look like this.
Fields finished 9-of-17 for 45 yards in Sunday’s defeat, and he took nine sacks for -55 yards as he repeatedly held onto the ball. The net passing yards of -10 were the fewest in Jets history and the worst mark by any team since 1998.
“There are guys that have bad games. That doesn’t mean you just bench them,” Glenn said, pushing back when asked if he would consider sitting Fields, 26, for veteran backup Tyrod Taylor.
Sunday’s overseas loss wasted a season-best effort by the Jets’ defense, which had struggled for much of the year, including in games when the offense was better.
The good news for the Jets is that there are still wins to be had.
Entering Monday, the Jets had the fourth-easiest remaining strength of schedule, including three eminently winnable games in the coming weeks.
Next up are the Carolina Panthers (3-3), whom the Jets are set to host Sunday. Fresh off of an upset win over the Dallas Cowboys, the Bryce Young-led Panthers are no longer push-overs, but they’re 0-3 on the road.
The Jets then travel to Cincinnati to face the Joe Burrow-less Bengals (2-4), followed by a Week 9 bye and then a home game against the Cleveland Browns (1-5).
Five of the Jets’ final 11 games are against teams that are 2-4 or worse, though that includes the Baltimore Ravens, who should have Lamar Jackson back from a hamstring injury well before they meet on Nov. 23.
“It is what it is,” Glenn said. “You’ve got to keep working. No one’s gonna feel sorry for you. … It’s not like this hasn’t happened to other teams before. We have to keep fighting our a– off.”
The Giants (2-4), conversely, are riding high after a 34-17 drubbing of the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium last Thursday.
Dart, 22, passed for a touchdown and scrambled for another, demonstrating his ingenuity as a playmaker that’s earned at least modest comparisons to head coach Brian Daboll’s former quarterback in Buffalo, Josh Allen.
The hard-nosed Skattebo plowed forward with three touchdown runs of his own, then ripped his shirt off in a jubilant postgame celebration that spoke volumes about the temperament of the team.
“The franchise has been a losing franchise the last couple of years,” Skattebo said. “But that’s not who we are right now.”
The Giants are 2-1 since Dart replaced Russell Wilson as the starting quarterback, with the other win coming over another Super Bowl hopeful in the Los Angeles Chargers.
The loss, however, came to a New Orleans Saints team that is otherwise winless, and the Giants committed five turnovers — all on consecutive possessions — including three by Dart. That game offered a reminder that, even with all of the positives, Dart is still a rookie.
“This guy is a good guy to have,” Daboll said of Dart after beating the Eagles. “Young, and gonna go through some growing pains, but I have a tremendous amount of confidence in Jaxson Dart.”
The Giants have the fourth-hardest remaining strength of schedule, starting this week when they travel to Denver to face the Broncos (4-2) and their elite secondary.
After that is a rematch with the Eagles (4-2) in Philadelphia, where Saquon Barkley and company will surely be motivated for revenge.
The Giants then face the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and New England Patriots before their Week 14 bye. Entering Monday, the Las Vegas Raiders (2-4) and Dallas Cowboys (2-3-1) were the only teams with losing records left on the Giants’ schedule.
And while the Giants’ star-powered pass-rushing unit has impressed, the team is operating without its go-to offensive weapon, Malik Nabers, who suffered a season-ending knee injury.
All of that means wins could be elusive, even if Dart and the Giants continue to show improvement.
Upon retaining Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen after last season’s 3-14 disappointment, co-owner John Mara said, “I’m going to have to be in a better mood this time next year than I am right now.”
What Mara did not do was mandate a certain amount of victories or playoff success, meaning progress may be measured in other ways.
Just don’t tell the players that.
“I understand that the most important thing for everybody is winning, and as competitors that’s how we feel, too,” Dart said. “I feel like this city is starving for that, and we are starving for that.”
