It’s becoming clear that Jaxson Dart’s confidence is able to be backed up — even if the New York Giants continue to fail around him.
Yet, Dart still took responsibility for his costly interception in the second half of New York’s 33-32 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, despite helping the Giants build a 19-point lead then nearly win the game in the final minute at Empower Field at Mile High.
Dart threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns and ran for the go-ahead score that put the Giants back in front 32-30 with 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Still, the Giants fell to 2-5, and 0-4 on the road this season, by giving up 33 fourth-quarter points and allowing a field goal at the fourth-quarter buzzer for the second time this year. Denver kicker Will Lutz made a 39-yarder on the last play of the game — mere seconds after Giants kicker Jude McAtamney missed his second extra point of the day.
Jaxson Dart’s Interception Hurt The Giants
The Giants were cruising to their first road win in more than a year, building a 19-0 fourth-quarter lead and holding a 26-16 lead with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Yet, Dart opened the door when he woefully underthrew tight end Theo Johnson and instead hit Broncos linebacker Justin Strnad that set up Denver at the Giants’ 19-yard line.
“My feet got a little stuck in the ground,” Dart said when asked what happened on the game-changing interception. “Iâve got to be way better than that. That sâtâs unacceptable.â
The Broncos went the requisite 19 yards on just four plays — in just 56 seconds — to pull within 26-23. After another three-and-out, where the Giants mustered just two yards and took 69 seconds off the clock, the Broncos pulled ahead on a lightning-quick, six-play, 61-yard drive capped by Bo Nix’s 18-yard run.
“I can’t do that,” Dart said. “We were in full control of the game, and and in that situation you can’t [throw an interception]. It was an unacceptable mistake by me.”
Jaxson Dart Still Nearly Won The Game For the Giants
Dart’s interception was costly, but he atoned for it on the Giants’ final drive.
“I looked at the clock and said ‘we’ve got a lot of time left,’” Dart said. “I had no doubt that we were going to go down there and score.”
Dart, again, backed his words up despite taking a costly sack, then a delay-of-game penalty that pushed the Giants into third- and then fourth-and-19. But Dart hit Wan’Dale Robinson for 19 yards — and drew a roughing-the-passer penalty that set the Giants up in Denver territory.
After inviting another pass-interference call — then an abuse-of-officials penalty against Broncos coach Sean Payton — Dart willed his way into the end zone on a one-yard scramble that put the Giants ahead.
Still, the losing, mistake-prone culture set by coach Brian Daboll — and for a decade-plus under owner John Mara — is starting to get to Dart, even though Sunday was only his fourth NFL start.
“I just can’t stand losing,” Dart said, voice cracking as he tried to fight off tears. “A loss hurts me the same, every time I take one.”
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