After last season, the Patriots paired a proven new head coach with a quarterback who brought loads of potential into his second year.
The combination of Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye has worked wonders in New England this season. And the Giants on Monday night got a painful front-row seat to what they dream can become their reality in 2026.
In the process, John Mara’s team — with general manager Joe Schoen somehow still employed — completely embarrassed itself on national TV.
Schoen has built a roster that is now 3-22 in its past 25 games, which is almost impossible to do in today’s NFL.
The Patriots’ 33-15 victory over the Giants was sealed by halftime, when New England led 30-7, as Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart unceremoniously returned from his two-game concussion absence.
Dart’s final stat line Monday, when the Giants fell to 2-11 and the Patriots improved to 11-2: 17-of-24 passing, 139 yards, one touchdown and a 99.1 quarterback rating, plus four rushes for 20 yards.
Maybe the Giants in 2026 can find a head coach and offensive coordinator who can elevate Dart — like Vrabel and Josh McDaniels boosted Maye this season, after New England went 4-13 each of the past two years.
But until then, this is the Giants’ grim reality heading into their bye week, as Schoen oversees their coaching search with Mara battling cancer:
They’re 11-36 since 2023 opened and 5-25 since last season began, including that insane 3-22 stretch. They’ve lost a franchise-worst 13 straight road games, including 0-8 this year (0-5 with Dart starting).
They’ve lost seven consecutive games overall and all three under interim head coach Mike Kafka, who has zero shot at getting the full-time job.
On Monday night, the Giants allowed 30 points in the first half for the first time since 2009.
Oh, and for the second time in three games Monday, this year’s third overall draft pick, edge rusher Abdul Carter, was benched by Kafka for ongoing tardiness issues. A terrible sign for a big-investment player.
After the bye, the Giants close with four straight non-daunting games — Washington, Minnesota and Dallas at MetLife Stadium, plus a trip to Las Vegas. But they won’t win any of them if they play like they did Monday.
Bottom line: Their first two-win season since the 2-12 debacle of 1974 is within reach.
Here are our other takeaways from Monday night:
• How did Jaxson Dart look? That’s all that matters down the stretch of this brutal season. Ideally, the Giants would get some more growth from Dart in those final four games after the bye.
Yes, he is now just 2-6 as their starter. But he flashed potential in his first seven starts — and then suffered that concussion Nov. 9 in Chicago. So he needed to do a better job of protecting himself, in the wake of that.
But while scrambling late in the first quarter Monday night, Dart didn’t get out of bounds quickly enough — and took a monster hit from Christian Elliss. This is not a sustainable long-term approach for Dart or the Giants.
Dart made a much smarter play on his 30-yard touchdown pass to Darius Slayton in the first half. After recognizing the oncoming blitz, Dart hit Slayton on a slant that Slayton then took 25 yards to the end zone.
Early in the fourth quarter, Dart used his mobility well, scrambling around in the backfield and evading pressure, all while keeping his eyes up. Then he found Slayton in the end zone for a two-point conversion that cut New England’s lead to 30-15.
• Defensive debacle: What else is new? Shane Bowen is gone, but the problems continue under Charlie Bullen. Remember back in the summer, when plenty figured the Giants would field a dominant defense in 2025? That notion is laughable now. In Monday’s first half, the Giants allowed 269 yards, including 207 and two touchdowns from Drake Maye. They had no answers for him. No surprise. This defense never has answers.
• Special teams debacle, too: Sure, why not? Here’s what happened in the first half to the Giants’ special teams units: They allowed a 94-yard punt return touchdown. They fumbled away a kickoff return that led to an easy field goal drive. And they saw kicker Younghoe Koo absurdly botch a 47-yard field goal attempt, as he jammed his toe into the turf without even touching the ball. All in one insanely disastrous half.
• Another offensive injury: Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo are already done for the season. They played just four and eight games, respectively. It looks like Skattebo’s replacement in the backfield, Tyrone Tracy, could soon join them on injured reserve. He was carted off the sideline with a hip injury that he suffered early in Monday’s fourth quarter. With five weeks and four games left in Tracy’s second season, he might be done.