The New York Giants lost their ninth straight game on Sunday as the Minnesota Vikings came into MetLife Stadium and secured a 16–13 vicitory. The Vikings’ defense limited rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart to just 33 passing yards (13 net passing yards). Dart dropped back 19 times, completing only seven passes for a 53.8% completion rate and a season-low 2.5 yards per attempt.
New York employed a run-heavy approach against the Vikings, rushing the football on 15 of the first 17 plays with no play-action usage. The Giants were sacked on their first two passing attempts: a third-and-six and fourth-and-five, although the Giants were bailed out of the former with a roughing the passer penalty.
The Athletic’s Dan Duggan had a very interesting note in his pregame thoughts X Post:
Talking to some offensive players this week, it’s clear the Giants were totally out-coached by Brian Flores in last season’s 28-6 loss to the Vikings in the opener. Flores unexpectedly ran a lot of Cover-2 and the Giants didn’t have many C-2 beaters in their game plan. They feel confident they’ll have a better plan for this matchup.
Brian Flores is known for his uber-aggressive approach, and he blitzed the Giants on 43% of snaps in Week 15, with a 48% middle-of-the-field-open rate (Cover-4/2). The Vikings had six defenders in the box on 55% of snaps, with the Giants employing 12 personnel at a 41% rate and 13 personnel at a 22% rate.
The Giants leaned on the run game against Minnesota’s two-high defensive looks and consistently stayed ahead of the sticks, averaging 4.3 yards per carry. However, the passing game was an abject disaster against Brian Flores’ defense. The rookie quarterback looked like a rookie — dropping his eyes early, missing open reads, and struggling under pressure. Injuries along the offensive line compounded the issue, as protection broke down repeatedly, and Giants receivers dropped four passes.
Flores consistently dialed up pressure, sending free rushers at Dart. It appeared that offensive coordinator Mike Kafka did not trust the Giants’ protection or the rookie quarterback to diagnose Minnesota’s rotating coverages post-snap, particularly off play-action. Instead, New York leaned into favorable box counts, running the ball to avoid third-and-five-plus situations.
While a run-heavy approach made sense, the lack of complementary elements was puzzling. Screen passes and other easy, rhythm throws for Dart were largely absent, leaving the rookie without reliable answers when the Giants were forced to throw.
Jaxson Dart described Flores’ defense as “chaotic” before the game, and chaos is what transpired for the Giants’ passing attack:
Q1, 8:01 Third-and-6
Technically, the Giants’ second-passing attempt against an incomplete pass on the previous play was cancelled by offsetting penalties. Flores puts seven guys on the line of scrimmage in a Cover-0 look versus 11 personnel with Theo Johnson (84) as the boundary side lone receiver in the 3×1 set; Devin Singletary (26) was to Johnson’s side and stayed in to protect.
Right at the snap, Jermaine Eluemunor (72) points at safety Harrison Smith (22), who is unblocked, and Dart did not account for the threat. The rookie signal caller looked to the field-side concept, where Darius Slayton was the first receiver to come out of his break, six yards down the field to the flat. Dart did not have a chance, but a roughing the passer penalty bailed the Giants out of the sack.
Dart must be cognizant of the backside rusher. There are six men in protection, seven threats, and a man look on the back end. Still, there doesn’t seem to be options for Dart to attack.
Q1, 5:21 fourth-and-5
Four plays later, the Giants decide to go for it on fourth down after a short gain on a third-and-8 run to Tyrone Tracy Jr.
I hate that the Giants aligned in EMPTY here with no help in protection from Theo Johnson. Kafka dialed up an underneath No. 1 route for Gunner Olzsewski (80) to the field against a goal-line zone-match defense. Dart opened to the boundary toward Johnson and Wan’Dale Robinson (17), who ran a fade route, but pressure off the left side forced Dart to step up and away into a sack.
The initial pressure was surrendered by Andrew Thomas (78), who had to step down toward the 4i-shade with the A-Gaps suggared by second-level defenders; this put Thomas at a disadvantage against Dallas Turner (15). John Michael Schmitz (61) then allowed Jalen Redmond (61) to beat the center inside, and Dart was thrown to the deck.
Dart opened to Johnson after Smith bailed into a deep half look from the line of scrimmage, and Eric Wilson (55) matched the tight end, giving Johnson significant outside leverage. Still, the outside cornerback did squat enough underneath to deter Dart, and the pressure made him attempt to extend the play to the field side. Robinson was open, and anticipation may have worked, but that’s easy for me to say sitting in this chair typing with my little coffee in front of me.
Q2, 11:19 third-and-7
Dart received another attempt in the red zone later in the game — an attempt where Flores was able to confuse and create a free rusher on the rookie quarterback.
Jay Ward (24) crept toward the line of scrimmage, along with six other Vikings’ defenders. This left Ward unblocked as the interior linebackers engaged the protection and bailed underneath to create the free rusher outside. Dart stepped up and away from Ward and then dropped his eyes to try to avoid other threatening defenders. Darius Slayton (18) was wide open in the back of the end zone, but Blake Cashman (51) broke away from John Michael Schmitz and forced Dart to try and evade, rather than seeing the field. Still, Dart’s eyes went toward Slayton for a second:
Eric Wilson cleaned up the sack, and the Giants kicked a field goal on the next play.
Q2, 3:51 second-and-10
The Vikings ran a lot of Cover-2, and the Giants called this Cover-2 beater against pressure, but it did not work out for New York:
Wan’Dale Robinson split the safeties and ran past the pre-snap safety, who assumed deep middle-hook responsibilities. Dart processed this under pressure: a Cover-3 pre-snap look to Inverted-Cover-2, but Dart’s pass drifted too far outside the hash, and that allowed Isaiah Rodgers (2) to close width on Robinson and disrupt the catch. If the football is closer to the middle of the field, it is a touchdown. Still, I’d like to see Robinson hold onto the football here, but Dart did not do him any favors.
New York slid their protection to the left to account for the Vikings showing pressure. Kafka had Theo Johnson motion to assume the unblocked defender in Andrew Van Ginkel (43). Johnson missed, but Tyrone Tracy Jr. (28) did enough to prevent a sack.
Q2, 3:45 third-and-15
These third-and-long situations were precisely what the Giants were intending to avoid with their game plan. But a first down sack (Dart chased out of bounds), the missed connection to Robinson (above), and a false start penalty put the Giants into this situation that unfortunately transpired:
Wilson bailed off the line of scrimmage, and the Vikings sent four rushers, but Wilson did not match Isaiah Hodgins (89) and read Dart’s eyes to Theo Johnson, which put Johnson in a precarious situation. Johnson struggles to catch open footballs, let alone ones where he’s about to get clobbered. The ball bounced right to Byron Murphy Jr. (7) in the Cover-4 look.
Q2, 1:53 first-and-10
The Vikings rotate into an inverted Cover-2 defense after showing middle-of-the-field-closed pre-snap, again. Turner dropped off the line of scrimmage, and one linebacker blitzed in the simulated pressure look. Both middle hook defenders collapsed on Johnson’s button-hook, and Hodgins was open between Turner and the flat defender that was occupied by Robinson’s flat route. Hodgins was open for a considerable amount of time, but Dart looked to Slayton as the backside one on the slant, but didn’t like the safety’s distance on the in-breaker.
Dart eventually threw to Hodgins, but it was almost intercepted by Murphy, who had plenty of time to pivot off of Robinson and close back to the numbers to hit Hodgins. Dart wasn’t seeing the rotations well and couldn’t find answers based off the actions of the Vikings’ defense post-snap. Tyrone Tracy Jr. was called for an offensive hold on the play.
Q2, 1:18 second-and-18
Another rotation to Cover-2, and the Giants ran four verticals. I’m unsure if there was a miscommunication here, but I don’t know where Dart was going with the football. He threw it directly at Van Ginkel and, luckily for the Giants, it was knocked down by the EDGE rusher, because the safety may have intercepted the pass. I don’t know if one of the three receivers was supposed to run a dig or an in-breaker on the play, but this play acts as a microcosm of the Giants’ offense on Sunday — bewildering and outmatched.
Final thoughts
There’s no way around it — the Vikings’ defense dominated the Giants. Brian Flores had Jaxson Dart looking overwhelmed with few answers. The Giants’ coaching staff was outmatched, and this will be yet another game that fans look back on as a discouraging low point, as if the Giants don’t have enough of these in recent years, am I right? The hope now is that Dart can use this experience as a learning moment — one that ultimately aids his development rather than defining him.
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