In the New York Giants’ fourth game of the 2025-26 NFL regular season, the youth movement was clear.

Jaxson Dart, the 25th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, got the nod at starting quarterback, replacing veteran Russell Wilson after an 0-3 start.

PREVIOUS ARTICLE: Giants To Start Jaxson Dart, Bench Russell Wilson in Week 4

And at running back, Cam Skattebo’s hard running and high work ethic earned the rookie out of Arizona State his first NFL start.

The 3-0 Los Angeles Chargers received the opening kickoff and promptly went three-and-out.

With all eyes on Dart on the Giants opening drive, there were a lot of (successful) shotgun handoffs to Skattebo, and Dart needed only two completions on the drive (both to Malik Nabers) to get in scoring range. Dart then took it in himself on a 15-yard run up the middle for his first career NFL touchdown, capping a 9-play, 89-yard drive that offered Giants fans a glimpse of an offense that can actually move the ball.

By halftime, the Giants held on to a 13-10 lead, with the three-point advantage coming by virtue of a Justin Herbert interception, picked off by Dexter Lawrence.

Dart was 7-of-11 passing for 59 yards at the half, along with six rushes for 44 yards and a touchdown. The offense was churning with the two-man running game of Dart and Skattebo, and Dart complimenting with efficient, if not short-to-medium range, passing.

But the Giants’ 2025-26 season took a huge hit in the first half, as Malik Nabers tore his ACL according to league sources.

In the second half, Dart continued to move the chains with his legs, but may have gotten a little too eager. Dart ripped off an apparent 37-yard rush, igniting the MetLife Stadium crowd. But Dart just wouldn’t stop fighting on the back end of the play (which was called back entirely due to offensive holding) and not only refused to go down but attempted an open field stiff-arm with his throwing arm, just whacking the defender in an attempt to score a touchdown that wouldn’t have even counted. The stiff-arm attempt and contact even forced NFL medical staff to remove Dart from the game for evaluation: bringing in who else but Russell Wilson, who immediately ate a huge sack to stall the Giants drive even further.

The third quarter was slow to start, until Herbert threw a bad interception to Andru Phillips, who was able to return the ball 56 yards, and was only stopped by Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen at the 3-yard line.

Dart then connected with tight end Theo Johnson on a shovel pass for his first career NFL touchdown pass. The Chargers were called for unnecessary roughness after the touchdown, allowing the Giants to set up for a two-point conversion from the one-yard line, which was light work for Skattebo. The Giants took a 21-10 lead late in the third quarter.

Just when it looked like the Giants were gaining control of the game, Chargers rookie running back Omarion Hampton broke off a 54-yard touchdown run. Herbert ran it in for a two-point conversion, to make it a three-point game. 21-18 Giants with an entire quarter of football left to play.

Dart opened up the fourth quarter by hitting Darius Slayton for 17 yards on 2nd-and-16, erasing a sack Dart took to end the third quarter. But the Chargers got to Dart again a play later, for their sixth sack of the game. This forced a 3rd-and-14 that Dart wasn’t able to run himself out of, resorting again to his legs after plenty of time in the pocket.

The Giants defense forced another quick punt, giving Dart the ball and a chance to add some points on a short field. New York moved the ball down to the two-yard line, but airmailed a Dart quarterback rush attempt on third-and-goal, getting stuffed. On fourth down, the Giants wanted to make it a two-score game, but Dart wasn’t able to connect with Wan’Dale Robinson in the endzone.

Los Angeles regained possession with five and a half minutes to play, down just three points. A 28-yard run by Hampton on third down sparked the drive, but Brian Burns shut it back down with a 16-yard sack on 3rd-and-9: the Giants defense just kept coming up big in this game.

Brian Daboll and the Giants then played the clock to win the game. By the time the Chargers got the ball back, they had had 18 seconds and no timeouts left. Quintin Johnston wasn’t able to get out of bounds on the final play of the game, and the Giants came out with a wire-to-wire victory in Dart’s first career NFL start.

Dart finished the game 13-of-20 passing for 111 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions, and rushed the ball 10 times for 54 yards and a score.

Skattebo had 79 yards on 25 carries, pounding away at the Chargers defense.

But while Dart and Skattebo will likely steal the headlines, it was the Giants defense that sealed New York’s first win. Two interceptions and two forced three-and-outs flipped the script for the Giants: if New York had to play from behind, Dart might have not been able to play the same kind of game.

The Giants move to 1-3 with the Chargers suffering their first loss of the season to fall to 3-1.

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SEE ALSO: Landing Spots for the Giants to Trade Russell Wilson

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Header Photo Credit: AP News

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