Just when things were going fine for the New York Giants, they appeared to cross paths with their worst nightmare during the TNF matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.QB1 Jaxson Dart, who’s been on a tear since taking over the role, suddenly found himself flattened, his helmet snapping against a defender after a brutal Patrick Johnson/Azeez Ojulari crunch. What looked like a serious injury to Dart, it rarely affected his breakout game against the Eagles.

Dart was fine. He marched out of the medical tent, waved off fate, and proceeded to put the 34-17 knockout punch on the Eagles. The sigh of relief from the G-Men sideline was palpable when the team announced Dart was cleared to return, and the rookie didn’t waste the second chance.

The 22-year-old finished the night with 17 for 25 passing for 195 yds and a score, adding a crucial 13 carries for 58 yds, 1 TD rushing. As Coach Daboll might say, “Never a doubt.” Dart earned his 2nd win in 3 starts and it was by far the best game of his young career, especially when you consider the stakes: reigning SB champions on Thursday Night Football.

The 1st half had been a proper NFC East slugfest, a back-and-forth tilt that ended with the Giants up 20-17. Dart started the night with a 20-yard TD run, leaving Zack Baun grasping at air, and later found Wan’Dale Robinson for a beautiful 35-yard score after evading multiple rushers.

The Eagles responded with their own physicality, leaning on the ‘Tush Push’ 4 straight times just to get Jalen Hurts in for the lead. But New York, led by the physical prowess of rookie Cam Skattebo, who scored his first TD on a 4-yd burst, wrestled the lead back and never looked away.

The grinding mechanism shifts: second-half shutout

After the halftime break, the Giants’ defense locked Philly down, holding them scoreless for the entire 2nd half. Given the ball in plus territory, Skattebo bulldozed in for his 2nd 1-yd score, making it 27-17. But the true ‘knockout punch’ wasn’t delivered by the running game; it was delivered by the secondary.

The Eagles moved into the red zone, that comforting territory where the ‘Tush Push’ always reigns supreme, but Hurts threw late and inside on a route intended for Jahan Dotson.

When you make that combination of errors on an out route, bad things happen, and corner Cordale Flott made him pay the maximum price. Flott picked it off and returned the football 68 yds, a game-changing, momentum-stealing sprint. That pick snapped Hurts’ 305-attempt INT streak, which was the longest active streak in the league.

Aided by a subsequent Kelee Ringo pass interference penalty in the end zone, Skattebo, who was the hammer all night long, finishing with 3 total TDs, punched it in from the 1-yd line again. A final, futile fumble by A.J. Dillon on the ensuing drive ended the conversation. It was a performance so complete that the Giants’ offense had scored 5 TDs against the Eagles for the first time since 2012.

And as for Dart, after securing his second career win, the rookie will be traveling to Denver to play the in-form Broncos. And who knows, the Giants might be preparing for another shock win…