EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants fans didn’t even make it through a full half of football Sunday night at MetLife Stadium before the chanting broke out.
“We want Dart! We want Dart! We want Dart!”
Keep in mind that at the point that chants started, Giants fans were still watching their team battle the reigning AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs in a tight game. The score was tied at 6-6, but that didn’t stop much of the Big Blue faithful in attendance from wanting to throw in the towel on what has been a mostly ugly Russell Wilson era and catch a glimpse of the man they hope will lead their team into a brighter future.
They began calling for that future with under a minute to go in the first half after Wilson threw his second interception of the Giants’ 22-9 loss on Sunday night. Fans fed up with the Wilson-led offense wanted to see Jaxson Dart, the rookie quarterback the Giants traded back into the first round to select with the No. 25 pick.
To be fair, Giants fans have wanted to see Dart in game action from the moment he was drafted. However, they might have been content to wait if what they’ve watched over the first few weeks wasn’t more of the same offensive ineptitude they’ve been forced to stomach for the past few years.
Wilson, after average or worse seasons in Denver and Pittsburgh in 2023 and 2024, didn’t have much leash with Giants fans, and many of them were ready to yank it after an abysmal Week 1 in which the Giants looked hapless in a 21-6 loss to the Commanders.
However, coach Brian Daboll and the Giants stuck with Wilson for Week 2, and their faith was rewarded, as Wilson put together a bounce-back game against Dallas, saving his starter status with his vintage performance. Entering Week 3, Wilson had a chance to earn some equity with Giants fans. If he could prove the Cowboys game wasn’t a fluke and string together back-to-back solid performances, he likely could have quieted some of the calls for Dart.
But that didn’t happen. Not even close. As Sunday night unfolded, Wilson’s vintage Week 2 game felt more like a last gasp than anything concrete the Giants could build on. The Giants failed to break into double digits, and as they slowly slid into a 0-3 hole, the Giants’ faithful voiced their frustration.
The calls for Dart didn’t only come after Wilson threw that second interception near the end of the first half. They came again when Dart subbed in for a play in the second half, only to be replaced by Wilson once more after the snap.
Dart returned to the field later in the second half, and the excited cheers as Dart ran on were replaced by boos as Dart headed back to the sideline two snaps later.
“There are highs and lows and always tough moments,” Wilson said of the crowd’s booing his return to the field. “You got to have thick skin, you know what I mean? You got to be able to know who you are, the player that you are, know what you’re capable of. Obviously, I’ve been able to show that throughout my career and last week and everything else, too — what we’re capable of as an offense.”
While last week was certainly a nice outburst for Wilson and the Giants offense, not being able to replicate that success, or anything close to it, on Sunday night is the more pressing issue.
The Giants’ second-to-last offensive possession Sunday night was emblematic of the frustrating inconsistency Wilson and the offense have been dealing with. Down 22-9 and in desperate need of a touchdown with just over three minutes to play, Wilson connected with Wan’Dale Robinson for 26 yards on fourth-and-5 to put New York on the Chiefs’ 4-yard line. If the Giants could have scored quickly, there was still time for them to rally. Instead, Wilson was flagged for intentional grounding on first down. Backed up to the 14 on second down, Wilson rushed up the middle for four yards. Then, Wilson didn’t even give his receivers a chance, as his next two passes sailed well out of bounds.
At that point, the game was all but over, as Wilson finished the night 18-of-32 passing with no touchdowns and two interceptions. What’s more, a week after setting a Next Gen Stats record with 264 deep passing yards, Wilson failed to complete any of his six deep attempts against the Chiefs, per NFL Pro.
The offensive regression led to heavy usage of the words “bummed” and “frustrated” in the postgame locker room from Giants players who were also trying to say all the right things about bouncing back next week. Edge rusher Brian Burns pointed to his teammates’ fight this year.
Receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said, “We got to figure this s — out. That’s exactly what’s going through my head.”
Longtime Giants players have had plenty of experience weathering poor play and trying to find the words to explain it after yet another loss. But Sunday presented that different dynamic to the home crowd: a rookie QB waiting in the wings, offering the potential of the unknown. Of hope.
Players tried to look past that, too.
“Just ignore it, honestly,” said left tackle Andrew Thomas, who returned Sunday to make his first start since Week 6 of last season. “There’s going to be controversy. I trust in the coaching staff. I trust in our players, and whoever’s out there, we’re going to support.”
As receiver Darius Slayton, who’s been in New York since being drafted by the franchise in 2019, said, “In my time here, I’ve heard a lot of people get booed. It’s nothing new to me. … I understand the fan perspective. Fans want what they want, but at the end of the day, our job is to win football games. Put the people out there who give us the best chance to win football games.”
Slayton believes Wilson is still that person, thanks to his experience and command of the offense. Plus, the Giants just got a firsthand lesson from Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, a quarterback who didn’t start until the final week of the regular season of his rookie year.
“When you talk about someone like Jaxson Dart, I want Jaxson Dart to end up like that guy (Mahomes),” Slayton said. “So, him having some time to wait and learn is probably not a bad thing.”
While it’s debatable whether waiting and learning is indeed what’s best for Dart’s future, it’s probably a moot point. If the offense continues to struggle like it did Sunday night, the fans chanting, “We want Dart,” are likely going to get exactly what they’re asking for, sooner rather than later.
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