In case you missed it, Jaxson Dart had by far the worst game of his career on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. He completed just seven passes for 33 yards and only rushed twice for seven yards. The struggles were evident as the rookie QB didn’t attempt a pass until three minutes into the second quarter.
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It’s gotten so bad that NY journalists like Connor Hughes are beginning to question whether firing Brian Daboll was the right decision.
Dart’s struggles against Minnesota are an extension of a poor run of form since the New York Giants fired Daboll. They’ve now gone 0-5 and have looked out of sorts offensively.
“In this loss here that the Giants just suffered at the hands of a lowly Minnesota Vikings team, even Jaxson Dart is regressing,” Hughes pointed out on a video posted by SNY TV. “In fact, that syncs up exactly with when the Giants decided to fire Brian Daboll.”
It’s hard to disagree with the NFL reporter. Dart simply hasn’t passed the eye test in recent weeks, mostly because the play-calling has significantly changed around him. He’s running less, hanging in the pocket, and handing it off to his running backs more often than not.
Hughes even made sure to note the before-and-after stats of Dart’s since Daboll’s exit.
“Since that transition from Daboll to Kafka, Dart is averaging 63 fewer passing yards per game, 15 fewer rushing yards per game. He’s averaging just one touchdown per game, after averaging 2.4 with Daboll. The turnovers are up as well, three in the seven games that Brian Daboll was the head coach, two in the three games since,” Hughes listed.
Jaxson Dart’s regression since Brian Daboll’s firing is undeniable.
The Giants are using him differently, which is killing his spark pic.twitter.com/lEOdMVe8uH
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) December 21, 2025
On top of all of this, Dart and the Giants are riding a nine-game losing streak. That’s tied with the Las Vegas Raiders for the longest streak this season. Long story short, it’s been a year to forget.
However, Hughes doesn’t believe the recent string of bad games is a sign that Dart isn’t the future of the Giants.
“I don’t think that this makes anyone think that Jaxson Dart is not the guy. But it does seem since he suffered that concussion and missed a couple of games for New York, the Giants have changed the way that they’re using Dart, and in turn, that has really held back the game that he plays,” Hughes stated.
With all of this in mind, should Daboll have been given a full season to develop Dart before getting canned? It’s an excellent question. After all, the QB is the most important asset for New York. Not to mention, the Giants didn’t have much of a chance at making the playoffs even after Daboll was fired.
Feels like the #Giants are trying to turn Jaxson Dart into a drop back, pocket passer since he returned from concussion. It’s just not working.
He’s not an elite thrower at this point in his career. He’s best moving around.
This wasn’t about not running Dart. He just needed…
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) December 21, 2025
But at the end of the day, Daboll had to go. It wasn’t Dart’s development that was the problem; it was the way Daboll managed games. The Giants should have had at least three more wins earlier in the year against the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, and Chicago Bears. Yet, they blew a lead in each game and lost them all.
That is ultimately the reason why Daboll was fired. It wasn’t the development of Dart; in fact, many recognized that he and the QB were an excellent duo.
Whether the Giants’ GM should’ve also been fired is another story. Many fans questioned why it was Daboll who was let go and not Joe Schoen when this all went down. But, like we said, at a certain point, Daboll had to go. It was either going to happen in the middle of the season or in the offseason.
