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Oct 5, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) recovers a fumble in front of New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) during the third quarter at Caesars Superdome. Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Jaxson Dart Puts Giants' Error-filled 26-14 Loss to Saints on His Shoulders

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Stephen Lebitsch | Last updated Oct 5, 2025 9:30 PM ET

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart learned what it took to win a football game in the NFL in his first-ever start last week. In the second game under center, he learned the hard way what it takes to be a leader when things don't go in his team's favor.

In the Giants' 26-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, almost everything good that the franchise managed to build up in their first win with the rookie signal caller in command of the offense went right back in the opposite direction.

In fact, it looked as if the Giants would carry over from where they left off against the Chargers as they marched right down the Caesars Superdome turf twice in their first two possessions to take an early 14-3 lead over the home opponent.

Not long after that, the typical, untimely mishaps began to rear their ugly heads again. The Giants would punt on their next two drives before opening up a streak of turnovers--three fumbles and two interceptions--on the next five turns with the pigskin to fall behind the Saints by two scores and never recover.

Those five cough-ups took what was looking to be another magical performance for the Giants first-round pick that would have jolted the team to a 2-3 record heading into a short week with a matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles awaiting them.

Instead, it became a "back down to earth" moment and massive teaching opportunity for the rookie Dart, who understands that despite his status in the Giants' huddle, he can't let his team make that many errors if they want to find consistent success this season.

"Yeah, those suck," Dart told the media after the game. "Obviously, you don't win many games when you have five and you don't get any on the other side of the ball. I felt like we had a lot of opportunities where we were just moving the ball down the field, and then we would just hurt ourselves.

"In the NFL, every team's a good team, every team has talent, and I just felt like we just gave the game away by those turnovers."

To make matters worse, the Giants achieved another piece of miserable history with their latest unfathomable outing on the gridiron, becoming the first team in the last nine seasons to record a turnover on five straight possessions.

They looked as if they were about to shatter the scoreboard, similar to how they did in their loss to the Dallas Cowboys three weeks earlier, as Dart authored two crisp eight-play possessions that featured a nice blend of passing and rushing against a porous Saints defense that sat at the bottom of the league in most major production metrics entering the contest.

Both drives featured excellent tempo and communication with the rest of their teammates as they navigated playing a road game in a loud dome environment for the first time that season. for two consecutive touchdowns to build the early lead through the midway point of the second quarter.

The initial result was Dart finding tight end Theo Johnson, who has become his trusty target in two games, for two consecutive touchdowns to build the early lead through the midway point of the second quarter.

But then, all that good talk and poise seemed to disappear, starting with a fumble by wide receiver Darius Slayton on the Giants' last drive of the first half as they were approaching field goal range and the chance to go up four points after New Orleans botched a 52-yard field goal attempt of their own.

Taking the halftime break to regroup wouldn't mean much in quelling the costly mistake, as the next drive would see Dart lose the football when he found a gap in the defense and took off with it. The very next drive, fellow rookie running back Cam Skattebo would have his turn, fumbling the rock inside the red zone that the Saints took back 86 yards for a back-breaking touchdown to extend their lead.

Add in Dart's two interceptions that seemed to be more a lack of patience under pressure than poor decision making, and the Giants offense handed away a total of 28 expected points on their slew of turnovers that the novice gunslinger believes come back to him as the chosen leader of the huddle moving forward.

"It's not good, so we've got to cut that out, and I think that starts with me just being a leader," Dart said.

"Some of those came from me, and I got to be a better example. I got to be a better leader, and I think in those situations I can just talk to the guys in the huddle and just remind them about ball security, and as a quarterback, I put those on myself."

There is something hopeful to pull from what was an absolutely embarrassing afternoon for the Giants. It's at least that, within his first losing moment, one that was littered with the errors many could expect from a rookie acclimating to the highest level of football, he grasps the impact of his play and the importance of taking responsibility as the called-upon one under center.

With the weight of heavy expectations on his shoulders, it's hard to say that Dart hasn't answered the call in a pretty impressive way so far. He still threw for 202 yards and added 55 yards on the ground to supplement the Giants' rushing efforts that eclipsed 130 yards for the third straight week.

Even in the heat of those frustrating moments, he didn't let much of the emotion that tends to follow a brutal mistake prevent him from being able to remain in the game mentally. Dart doesn't put much stock in all that, however, as he knows that moral victories don't dictate how one's career is viewed on a larger scale.

As the Giants look to shake off the loss and get back to work on a short week ahead, Dart is firm that he needs to improve to help his teammates strive for the same goal.

"Anytime that you get more reps, you're going to get better. I think that I obviously am young and that can't be an excuse.

"I've got to continue to get better, and wins and losses measure quarterbacks. So, I took that to heart and felt like I was kind of the one who should have been putting our team in a better situation to get a win in this game."

"For me, I just have to keep leading. I told as many guys as I could in the locker room, this one's on me, and I'm going to get better. I expect to play better in these games and win them, so I'm going to review the tape and identify areas for improvement to help this team win the games we play."

This article first appeared on New York Giants on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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