After a huge upset win in rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart’s debut against the undefeated Los Angeles Chargers, the Giants found themselves in all-too-familiar territory in Week 5, a frustrating, letdown loss on the road to a then-winless New Orleans Saints team. The G-Men couldn’t have started any better, scoring 14 points right out of the gate, but then the wheels started to come off.
Related: 2 winners (and 4 losers) from Giants' brutal Week 5 meltdown vs Saints
We know the stat. They became the first team in NFL history to score touchdowns on their first two drives and have five straight turnovers in the same game (win or lose, these guys make history). With three of those turnovers coming from Dart (one fumble and two interceptions), Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski cited Dart simply being a rookie as his biggest takeaway in his latest article.
Now, if you look solely at the box score, Sobleski has a fair point. The fumble was bad, and two interceptions never look good on the stat sheet. Plus, Dart only managed just over 200 yards through the air. Rookie numbers for sure, but everyone needs to look a little deeper than what we see on the stat sheet.
Jaxson Dart is not the sole blameworthy Giant in Week 5's meltdown
Before halftime, the Giants were up 14-13 and were driving. Dart hit wide receiver Darius Slayton for a nice gain, but Slayton fumbled. The catch would've gotten Big Blue on the cusp of field goal range with a chance to make it 17-13 at the half. Instead, the Saints capitalized on the turnover and turned it into a six-point swing in the Saints' favor: 16-14.
With the Giants down 19-14, Dart engineered a good drive again, and running back Cam Skattebo fumbled in the red zone, leading to a scoop and score for New Orleans: 26-14. That’s anywhere from 6–14 points taken off the board for the Giants when they seemingly had all the momentum in the world.
Those turnovers ultimately led to Dart’s interceptions. Playing from behind, he had to force a ball under pressure on fourth down that was picked off. Then, wide receiver Beaux Collins (who should never see the field again) stopped running his route, and the ball landed right in the defender’s hands.
Dart wasn’t perfect, but outside of his fumble, there weren’t too many “rookie mistakes” on his part. He looked comfortable and in command of the offense. This loss was a team-wide failure — not one pinned on an inexperienced quarterback. We’ll definitely see some growing pains and bad decisions as Dart’s rookie campaign continues, but this past week wasn’t one of those instances.