NY Giants Make Big Jump in Latest MMQB NFL Power Ranking Poll

The presence of Dart not only helped the Giants crack their second-largest scoring total of the first four contests, with 21 points in total. Still, it was a number that, in reality, could have been even greater, given that the team made its usual costly mistake of leaving points off the scoreboard due to botched decision-making.

Nevertheless, the latest total proved enough for the Giants to hold off a Chargers team that came in 3-0 with one of the best-built rosters in the league.

Most of the important offensive production came on the heels of the rushing game, which racked up 161 yards and one touchdown, helping the home squad maintain control of the overall game clock.

At times, Dart showcased his innate ability to take off with the ball in his hands and his aggressiveness in fighting for the extra yards, both elements that forced the Chargers' defense to respect him as the game progressed and eventually wore down that side as the final minutes unfolded.

The Giants also received another solid outing from fellow rookie rusher Cam Skattebo, who has asserted his dominance since replacing the injured Tyrone Tracy in the backfield's No. 1 role.

Skattebo carried the ball 25 times for 79 yards and was huge at taking the will out of Los Angeles's defense that had to try to hold their team together amid two bad turnovers by quarterback Justin Herbert.

Speaking of the defense, the Giants' crew gave one of their strongest outings of the season, especially in the pass rush category, where the long-debated promise of the team's defensive front finally matched all the offseason talk.

They created 20 quarterback pressures behind the work of their four elite edge rushers and won the battle up front nearly 70% of their snaps to keep the opposition at bay.

If those types of performances can continue, the Giants could hand their rookie signal caller an excellent counterpart that will help them remain in games and likely boost his already confident demeanor, allowing him to let it rip and open up the Giants' offense to surprise some teams around the league.

The Giants certainly have a more favorable matchup coming up in Week 5 against the New Orleans Saints, a winless franchise whose overall talent isn't up to par with what Big Blue has in its arsenal, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

It's still a tough environment to play in, considering how noisy the Caesars Superdome dome can get, meaning Dart will have to learn how to handle himself and push the offense forward in hostile territory, rather than having the energy of the entire building behind him.

He seemed not to reveal any trepidations in his very first start against a more capable foe in the Chargers to hand them their first loss of the season.

The opportunity is there to stack another big performance and give the Giants some serious momentum heading into a tough sandwich of games with the Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos in the coming weeks.

Should Dart and company improve their record to 2-3 and achieve that down in New Orleans, it could start to change the narrative around the Giants' 2025 season and create some more believers who will boost the team in their rankings, similar to what Orr did.

More importantly, it'll continue to paint a more positive picture of what the future could be like for a historic franchise whose recent timeline has seen the same amount of success as the old days, yet is hungry to bring them back in a new form.