Giants rookie sends warning to NFL after dominant performance vs. Chargers

Local and national media outlets understandably focused on the play of New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart after Dart tallied a passing touchdown and a rushing score en route to guiding the Giants to a 21-18 win over the previously unbeaten Los Angeles Chargers this past Sunday. 

That said, Dart acknowledged in his postgame locker-room speech that members of the Giants defense were the true stars of that afternoon. 

During a recent chat with Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, Giants rookie pass-rusher Abdul Carter sent a bit of a warning to the rest of the NFL regarding what the Big Blue defense hopes to accomplish moving forward. 

Giants defense believes it can take games over

"We feel like we can’t be stopped," Carter said. "Once we do our job and stop the run and make the quarterback one-dimensional and make them pass the ball, that’s when we take over the game."

As Dan Duggan of The Athletic pointed out, the Giants' front four of Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Brian Burns and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence recorded 27 pressures against Chargers star quarterback Justin Herbert. While Herbert took only two sacks, he was forced into a handful of incomplete passes as he connected on 23-of-41 attempts for 203 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions against the Giants.

"Our D-line ate, but we’re over it now," Carter told Slater. "That’s the main thing we’ve got to do: Keep building and keep getting better." 

Giants defense won't get "comfortable" after first win

In Week 1, the Giants held the high-powered Washington Commanders offense to 14 points until Deebo Samuel iced the game with a touchdown run halfway through the fourth quarter. Big Blue followed that up with a shaky performance in an overtime defeat at the Dallas Cowboys. The following Sunday, the Giants' offense again left much to be desired with its play in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Carter seems to understand he and his defensive teammates may need to carry the team to more victories now that star wide receiver Malik Nabers has been lost to a season-ending torn ACL.

"It means we’ve got to not get comfortable," Carter said. “We can’t have one performance and be OK with that. We’ve got to come out there and do it week in and week out."

As of Thursday morning, ESPN BET had the 1-3 Giants as 1.5-point underdogs for this coming Sunday's game at the 0-4 New Orleans Saints. It sounds like Carter and Co. could use that line as bulletin-board material before the Giants make the trip to Louisiana.