The Giants’ Week 6 win over the Philadelphia Eagles was bigger than one result.
Not because it guaranteed anything more. It didn’t.
The Giants (2-4) remain underdogs, despite winning two of their last three games, against an unrelenting schedule that rolls on with Sunday’s visit to the Denver Broncos (4-2).
What the Giants’ victory over the Eagles did, however, is allow Brian Daboll‘s team and the fan base to believe.
For the first time since 2022, the Giants’ players, staff and fans now can look at each of the team’s upcoming games and come up with realistic scenarios about how the Giants might win each one.
The Broncos? They nearly just lost to the Jets. Their offense is far from perfect. The Giants defense can exploit that.
The Eagles in a South Philadelphia rematch? The Giants already beat them once. Why not again?
The 49ers in a visit to MetLife Stadium? Nick Bosa and Fred Warner are out of for the year. Bring it on.
“I think we have a little bit more excitement in the locker room,” rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart said after upsetting the Eagles on Thursday Night Football. “We feel like anytime we go out there on the field, anybody we’re playing against, we have a chance to win.
“Doesn’t matter what Vegas says. It doesn’t matter what the spread is,” he said. “I was watching Pat McAfee. They are talking about the point spread of who is going to win the game. We don’t care about that stuff. We feel like we’re confident to go out there, put on a good performance and win games.”
To put names on the Giants’ belief, this is really about having a capable quarterback and a solid pass rush.
It’s about Dart, and it’s about Brian Burns.
Dart took over an 0-3 Giants team and has gone 2-1 as the starter.
He has 508 passing yards, a 65.9% completion percentage, four passing touchdowns, 167 rushing yards, two rushing TDs and three turnovers that all came in his Week 5 loss to the Saints.
He converted 73.3% of the Giants’ third downs (11 of 15) against Philly’s vaunted defense, including several back-breaking conversions with his legs.
Burns, meanwhile, has recoded seven sacks, including at least one in five of the Giants’ six games. He is third in the NFL behind only the Broncos’ Nik Bonitto (eight sacks) and the Rams’ Byron Young (7.5).
And his three sacks in the Giants’ two wins against the Chargers and Eagles all have come on third downs. One was a 3rd & 9 in the fourth quarter of a tight win over Just Herbert and the Chargers, and another was on 3rd & 7 late in the third quarter on Philly’s Jalen Hurts.
Burns even called the players-only defensive meeting to galvanize the group before taking down the Eagles.
“It was on my heart,” Burns said of his message. “I wanted to lead and show the guys how much I cared, and that meant a lot to me to get it off. And they responded positively to it.”
The Giants have had a handful of good players during these dark years. The difference in how Dart and Burns have impacted recent results, though, is that they are showing an ability to finish big plays and games.
That’s what is most exciting.
The winning side of the Giants franchise’s tradition is built on strong quarterback play and timely, dominant pass rushes. And right now, both sides of the ball have X factors who are stepping up to fill those roles in key moments.
“As a team, we’re trying to finish in everything that we do,” Dart said. “Finish through the whistle. In the fourth quarter, when it’s time to see what teams are about, we want to finish. When we have opportunities to win games, we have to take advantage of that… Everybody was involved in this. We’re just trying to be a tough-nosed team.”
Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll had a 9-28 record in their 37 games played in the 2023 and 2024 seasons and in this year’s first three disappointing weeks.
So the Giants are not by any means out of the woods here just yet.
The NFL investigation into Daboll’s sideline antics and alleged concussion protocol violations is a reminder of the underbelly of this flawed operation.
Dart’s reckless running and two concussion tests in three games are a cause for concern.
And this team is still young, imperfect and beatable. So they could just as easily lose the next three.
Just ask the Saints, who benefitted from New York’s five turnover meltdown in Week 5.
Dart’s playmaking, however, now has Giants fans on the edge of their seats waiting for the next game to kick off.
Burns and the Giants’ pass rush have to be practicing new sack celebrations every week, now, feeling confident that they’re going to get home in a big spot.
It hasn’t been like this in a while. Fans have dreaded the Giants’ next game for a few years. They’re even still wary about whether this momentum is real or fleeting.
But this is the baseline of what franchises owe their paying fan bases each week: Excitement. A chance to win every game on the schedule.
That’s at least how it feels right now watching Dart, Burns and the Giants. And that’s a good thing.
