The NFL schedule makers set New York Giants fans up for the perfect chance at closure back in May when they set Big Blue's Week 3 matchup with Brian Daboll and the Tennessee Titans. Jaxson Dart thriving against his former head coach would have been the final piece of evidence needed to prove that the Giants made the right choice by moving on from Daboll.
How sweet would it have been to see Dart face down the coach who yanked him from the medical tent and put him in an impossible situation?
But with Dart now reportedly out for the season with a knee injury, the schedule makers won't see their plan come to fruition. Instead, the Week 3 clash has been warped into a chaotic showdown between Jameis Winston and Cam Ward.
It's no longer the cathartic matchup we thought we were getting in Week 3, but there is still a whole lot riding on this game for John Harbaugh's Giants.
Jaxson Dart injury shifts the tone of Giants' Brian Daboll reunion
Instead of being about whether Dart could outscore his former head coach, this game is now about what the Giants can do without their starting quarterback. Fans had all of their built-up hope ripped away when the news dropped that Dart was likely set to miss the season.
This game against the winless Titans will now determine whether the G-Men are still worth rooting for, or if this season is already a loss.
The pressure is on John Harbaugh to convince the fans that this season still has a chance of being an improvement on previous years.
Ian O'Connor of The Athletic put Harbaugh's current predicament perfectly. He said, "As one of the best coaches of his generation, John Harbaugh was worth the $100 million investment the Giants made in him. He will earn all of that cash this year if he can somehow keep his team breathing."
It doesn't have to be pretty for the Giants on Sunday, and it likely won't have to be a high-scoring affair. Daboll's offense is only averaging 15 points so far this season, to the surprise of no Giants fan. Harbaugh's squad will have to shut Daboll down while piecing together enough offensive success to pull out a win.
If they can pull that off, they might make the pain of losing Dart for the season sting just a little less.
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