It’s not easy to be a New York professional sports fan these days. Aside from the Mets, which my wholly uninformed colleague foolishly jinxed with his blind support in spite of every warning sign to the contrary, the Liberty are now officially ex-WNBA champions, the Jets are still winless and the Yankees–yeah, they’re in the post-season but they’re hosting their arch-rival Red Sox, and if you’ve taken a glance at the history books they haven’t won a home playoff game against them in 21 years, having lost four in a row.
So it was all the more opportunistic for the winless Giants to serve up at least a noble attempt to provide something positive yesterday, in spite of the fact they were hosting the unbeaten Los Angeles Chargers. But for a change, something did indeed work out at least as well as planned. MSN’s Vinnie Iyer took note:
How did New York Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart do in his NFL starting debut? He gets more than a passing grade – thanks to his running and winning in Sunday’s 21-18 Week 4 home shocking upset victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Giants, at 0-3, were looking for a spark vs. their 3-0 interconference opponents and Dart provided it. He was the needed offensive playmaking catalyst with his youthful confidence, inspiring the defense to make sure he outdueled red-hot counterpart Justin Herbert.
Dart looked the part of handling one of New York’s highest-pressure jobs. That became a little too literal with the Chargers racking up the sacks and hitting him plenty. He proved at 6-foot-2, 223 pounds, he’s got the physical toughness and mental makeup to succeed as a dynamic dual threat.
He also adjusted well to the challenges of the defense and the added obstacle of losing Nabers. In that regard, Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka designed a manageable game plan that set up Dart for moderate success.
Dart was known for his speed and quickness as a runner at Ole Miss, unlike Giants’ two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning. Dart didn’t get a chance to flex his arm too much, but he did show some decisive, dangerous wheels as his surname suggests.
That said, he isn’t quite at the level of his fellow Rebel alum just yet. And he’s gonna need to perform going forward without one of his best potential weapons, as CBS SPORTS’ Kevin Steimle reminded:
Dart was efficient, but somewhat limited by a left hamstring injury he suffered in the first half. The bad news is the Giants may have lost star wide receiver Malik Nabers to a torn ACL. Nabers was carted off in the first half, and the fear is that he tore his left ACL.
And he definitely has a ways to go to come close to the performance level that was on display later yeserday afternoon from another struggling team and its leader Pat Mahomes ,as THE ATHLETIC’s Jesse Newell reported:
One of the biggest frustrations from the Chiefs’ 1-2 start was that the offense seemed to make every yard look difficult. It wasn’t much fun to watch. Meanwhile, Mahomes — too often — appeared to be trying to carry the offense on his back as he scrambled for critical yardage while also taking extra hits.
It’s why Sunday’s flashback had to be such a welcome sign for Chiefs fans at Arrowhead Stadium.
Mahomes seemed comfortable while in the pocket with his revamped offensive line this year, and more often than not, his passes came out in rhythm and on target as the Chiefs maintained efficiency throughout. K.C. scored on seven of its first eight possessions, and the team also didn’t punt until the 3:33 mark of the fourth quarter during garbage time.
And on the other sideline, the other top-notch quarterback for another struggling team produced another disheartening injury, per Newell’s teammates Jayna Bardahl and Jeff Zrebiec:
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson suffered a hamstring injury Sunday against the Chiefs, leaving the contest in the third quarter and sitting out the rest of a 37-20 defeat at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium. The last time the Ravens were 1-3 …It was the 2015 season. They finished 5-11 that year. That was the season where Terrell Suggs, Joe Flacco, Steve Smith Sr., Justin Forsett and Dennis Pitta were among those to miss all or chunks of the season with injuries.
Further west, the news was both good and bad for the other California-based NFL teams. Nate Atkins, James Boyd and Amos Morale III weighed in with the good:
Matthew Stafford found Tutu Atwell wide open for an 88-yard go-ahead touchdown pass with less than two minutes remaining Sunday to send the Los Angeles Rams to a 27-20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts at SoFi Stadium.
Due north, Vic Tafur, Matt Barrows and Lauren Merola supplied the bad:
The Jacksonville Jaguars handed the San Francisco 49ers their first loss of the season Sunday with a 26-21 victory at Levi’s Stadium.
After holding the 49ers to no touchdowns in the first half, the Jaguars started the third quarter with a 17-6 lead. Jacksonville went three-and-out, and the 49ers scored on the ensuing drive after quarterback Brock Purdy connected with running back Christian McCaffrey on an 8-yard pass in the end zone. A successful two-point conversion cut the Jaguars’ lead to three, 17-14. It was the closest the 49ers would get.
If you’re looking for the ugly, then your bleary eyes probably wound up both enthralled and appalled what unfolded late into the night in Big D, as the Micah Parsons reunion tour took an unexpected turn. Still another ATHLETICer, Chris Branch, supplied the recap early this morning:
Yesterday’s nightcap between Dallas and Green Bay was arguably our best game of the season, but ending a shootout in a 40-40 tie just felt wrong. The Cowboys have to be thrilled with putting up huge numbers despite missing wideout CeeDee Lamb. George Pickens was incredible (134 yards, two touchdowns) in his absence. But Green Bay should be feeling the most pain here, having squandered what could’ve been an easy win on a tough schedule.
OK, maybe it wasn’t all that hideous. After a day that began at the crack of dawn in Dublin with the Steelers finding a way to hold off a stirring Vikings comeback, maybe I was just a bit crankier than usual. After all, I AM a New York professional sports fan.
Courage…