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Giants news, 12/16: Jaxson Dart’s frustration, Mike Kafka, Tom Coughlin

Good morning, New York Giants fans!

From Big Blue View

Other Giant observations

This was a solo trip for him. He doesn’t mind, so don’t go feeling bad for him. His seat up here feels like home. It was all the Giants could offer him through their waiting list in 2003. So he took it — and kept it. It’s kind of nice to not have anyone behind you, he said. He still enjoys showing up, even in mid-20s weather, “but losing starts to wear on you after a while,” he said. The season-ticket holders who used to sit next to him finally had enough and gave up the seats.

A few minutes later, as we stood and shifted to stay warm, I asked what kept him coming back. He smiled and shook his head, perhaps trying to find a logical explanation. “I don’t know anymore,” he said. “There is an apathy here now.”

Building blocks

QB Report Cards for 2025 NFL Week 15 | Bleacher Report

During Sunday’s loss to the Washington Commanders, Dart rewrote NFL history by becoming the first rookie quarterback with multiple games of 240 or more passing yards, 60 or more rushing yards and two or more touchdowns. He also became the only quarterback to throw for over 1,800 yards, run for more than 400 and contribute at least 20 total touchdowns in his first nine starts.

Jaxson Dart at a loss with this Giants’ losing and he deserves better | The Record

In a post-game moment of honesty and humility, Jaxson Dart admitted that he’s still searching for ways to cope with all this losing.

The New York Giants have done far more losing than Dart ever anticipated when he took over as their quarterback, especially after upsetting the Los Angeles Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles in two of his first three starts.

The Giants’ ineptitude is so deeply ingrained, Mike Kafka never stood a chance | The Athletic

One can only pity Mike Kafka at this point. The New York Giants’ 38-year-old offensive coordinator surely viewed his seven games as interim head coach as an audition. Perhaps he could ignite such a dramatic turnaround that he would compel Giants ownership to give him the full-time job. Or, after interviewing for eight head-coaching vacancies over the past three offseasons, he could show enough in this stint to finally land a job elsewhere.

The saddest part of the Giants holding the No. 1 pick in the draft with three games remaining is they aren’t tanking. Schoen, Kafka and Co. have far too much on the line to prioritize future draft position.

What do all these losses mean for GM Joe Schoen and interim coach Mike Kafka? The Giants have lost all four games since Kafka took over. It’s becoming close to impossible to envision him having the interim tag removed given these results. As for Schoen, the pressure continues to build. His return next season seems far from certain given that the team has dropped eight straight and is 5-26 over the past two seasons. Schoen’s defense has been that the talent is better than the results. A change at head coach and defensive coordinator haven’t altered much. The Giants were favorites in this game for the first time in more than a calendar year, yet still trailed from start to finish.

Tom Coughlin continues to be the best of us

Darius Slayton has regrets after crushing Giants drop | New York Post

Darius Slayton isn’t Willie Mays. And yet, Slayton agrees with the angry Giants fans who feel like he should’ve made the over-the-shoulder catch on what would have been a 35-yard touchdown to set up the potential game-tying touchdown catch in the third quarter of Sunday’s 29-21 loss to the Commanders.

“I expect myself to make those types of plays, but unfortunately, I didn’t today,” Slayton said. “I tracked it as best I could. It was right over my head. I got my hands on it, and I felt like as soon as I got my hands on it, he hit me. I could say I didn’t have a chance to trap the ball, but at the end of the day I have to find a way to try and make it….Missed opportunities are killers, for sure. I just have to try to find a way to finish with the ball.”

2026 NFL Mock Draft: Jets trade up for Fernando Mendoza | PFF

5. New York Giants (via New York Jets): WR Carnell Tate, Ohio State. Projected trade: New York Giants send No. 1 overall pick to New York Jets for No. 5 pick, No. 37 pick, a 2027 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick.

The Giants slide back to the fifth overall pick and land Carnell Tate. His 90.2 PFF grade is tied for fourth among all receivers nationally, and his 151.1 passer rating when targeted also ranks fourth. Tate would form a dynamic pairing with Malik Nabers once the Giants star returns from injury, and he’d also add much-needed size (6-foot-3) to New York’s wide receiver room.

This week’s opponent

NFL Week 15: Biggest questions, takeaways for every game | ESPN.com

Was this J.J. McCarthy’s best game? All things considered, yes. McCarthy was far from perfect, but he made more impactful throws than in any of his previous seven starts. The Vikings’ offense is built on chunk plays in the passing game, something McCarthy had not delivered in volume. But he completed five passes that traveled at least 15 yards in the air Sunday night, including a 58-yard throw to Jordan Addison and a 20-yard touchdown to Jalen Nailor. His 250 passing yards are a career high.

After the 34-26 win was in the books, head coach Kevin O’Connell praised the play — “I knew the play and I knew what was happening, and the action was so good I even had to take a double take right there” — but said he “would not classify as special” the way McCarthy finished the play. The quarterback acknowledged that he knew the premature celebration would rankle his coach.

“I did it in practice, and I was told not to do it,” McCarthy said. “So, just me being who I am, it’s like, ‘Oh, I’m more enticed to do it.’ But if it’s that open, obviously just get in the end zone no matter what — and be coachable and do what my coach says. So yeah, I’ll definitely get a minus for that one.”

Vikes Views: Viking of the Week – Vikings at Cowboys | Daily Norseman

Brian Flores. The defense wasn’t perfect, but they held the best offense in the league to two TDs and a bunch of long FG attempts. The first TD was off the interception on the first play of the game. It took the Cowboys 11 plays and a fake FG to get the 35 yards for the TD. That game could’ve easily turned into a shootout, but the bend-don’t-break defense made it possible for the team to pull away in the 2nd half.