FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Maybe we'll look back on the events inside Gillette Stadium on Monday night as the start of something special for the New York Giants.
Because the New England Patriots absolutely represent two of the greatest moments in franchise history, and there was always something about the greatest quarterback the Patriots have ever had that seemingly brought out the best in the greatest quarterback who has played for the Giants.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhether it's farfetched fantasy to pitch in a primetime showdown between two teams at opposite ends of the standings' spectrum, or an eventual dream worth believing in, the first meeting between Drake Maye's Patriots and Jaxson Dart's Giants offers hope that we may get a show to remember.
"Yeah, man, I'm ready. I've been waiting for it," said Dart, who will return as the Giants' QB1 after missing the last two games while in concussion protocol. "Obviously, these primetime games are ones that you have circled on your calendar. So, excited to go out there, go compete at a high level and do everything in my power to rally these guys, to put our team in the best situation when the clock hits zero that we're going to come out with a win."
While this isn't quite Super Bowl XLII and XLVI - that's an understatement - a December regular season game on "Monday Night Football" is the biggest stage left in an otherwise lost season for the Giants.
The last time we saw Dart was in Chicago and consider all the change for the franchise in the three weeks since. The morning after Dart entered protocol, suffering a concussion when his helmet smacked against the frozen ground inside Soldier Field, Brian Daboll was fired as head coach.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Giants (2-10) have lost two more games, extending their losing streak to six with 12 consecutive defeats on the road dating back to last season. Meanwhile, the Patriots are on a nine-game winning streak and will bring the AFC's best record at 10-2 into Monday's game.
New England was in no man's land following the departures of Tom Brady and then Bill Belichick, but two years later, Mike Vrabel has this team back on top of the AFC East and Maye is playing like an NFL MVP front runner in just his second season.
For Maye, there were plenty of dots to connect him to the Giants in the NFL Draft two years ago if you went that route. His private trainer is David Morris of QB Country, which has represented some of the best prospects through the years, including Daniel Jones.
Morris is also a close friend of Eli Manning; he was actually his backup at Ole Miss. And Manning helped guide Maye through the draft and evaluation process, as he did with Dart early on in that process, too.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - AUGUST 21: Jaxson Dart #6 of the New York Giants and Drake Maye #10 of the New England Patriots talk after the second half of a NFL Preseason 2025 game between New England Patriots and New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on August 21, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images)Asked at the 2024 Combine for the best advice he received from Manning, Maye said: "Just be myself. Don't be somebody I'm not, and at the end of the day, don't give the NFL too much spotlight. Just go out there and play ball."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe scouting report on Maye was that his greatest strength was also the most concerning weakness in his game. He has no fear of attempting big-time throws and completes a bunch of them, fueling what observers believed gave him a very good chance at succeeding in today's NFL. But Maye also takes a ton of risks, and that style of play compromised his standing in the eyes of some evaluators.
Sound familiar?
New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart is set to return Monday night against the New England Patriots after missing two games in concussion protocol.Dart is a competitor, and he's already proven that he will do anything to get his team in position for a win. He bested reigning Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts in their first of two meetings in prime time, leading the Giants to what remains their last loss.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDart outplayed Bo Nix and the Broncos for most of the Giants' eventual collapse in Denver. He deserved better against Caleb Williams and the Bears, leaving two plays into the fourth quarter with the Giants in front on the scoreboard.
Now comes the opportunity opposite Maye, who entered Week 13 as the NFL leader in passing yardage (3,130) with a QB rating of 110.7 and a 71% completion percentage. He has 21 touchdown passes with six interceptions in 12 games.
Dart has appeared in nine games with seven starts this season, completing 62.7% of his passes for 1,417 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions. The former Ole Miss star has emerged as one of the NFL's best runners as well, rushing for 317 yards and seven touchdowns.
He is the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to run for a touchdown in five consecutive games, and he's tied for the third most rushing TDs for a rookie quarterback in league history since 1950.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"The growth’s there, and now, it’ll just be for him, going out there and competing again," interim coach Mike Kafka said of Dart. "I don’t want to put him in a box. I want to let his best football [out], go out and play out."
Not long ago - earlier this season, actually - Maye was at the center of a concussion conversation of his own in New England.
As a rookie last year, Maye entered the NFL's concussion protocol during the Patriots' Week 8 victory over the Jets. He suffered a head injury on a scramble after a helmet-to-helmet collision with the Jets' Jamien Sherwood. Maye was back in practice days later and did not miss a game. He was also evaluated for a concussion in late December against the Chargers.
No two concussions are the same, just as no two quarterbacks are the same. But as with Maye, there’s no question one of Dart's superpowers early in his career is how great he is on the move.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe threatens defenses with his ability to run, and that often comes with leaving himself open to absorbing punishment downfield.
Sometimes, playing smarter, if not harder, means not fighting for extra yards.
Dart has to learn to resist the temptation to take off with every running lane, and he has already shown a willingness to do that. As Kafka pointed out, stopping any and all of that completely comes with the fear that Dart will cease being the QB the Giants have seen and fallen in love with.
As Giants interim offensive coordinator Tim Kelly said of all quarterbacks' quest to find that balance, Dart must "understand when you need to put the cape on and when it's OK to go ahead and slide."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA victory over Maye and the Patriots won't do anything to change the Giants' fate this season, but in terms of the big picture, it's the kind of outcome that would raise the profile of Dart, not just for what he has already done, but also the promise of what's to come.
Kafka's chances at keeping the job could also increase exponentially if the Giants are able to get on a run with Dart leading the way over the season's final five games beginning Monday night. The challenge of stopping Maye rests with an underachieving defense that will be called for the first time by interim defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen, who replaces the fired Shane Bowen.
"The season so far has been tough, because our record could completely be flipped the other way and everybody here is in a completely different state of mind," Dart said. "But I've just come to realize that in the NFL, if you don't make those crunch-time moment plays and the other team does, you’re going to lose, and it doesn't really matter how well you play up until the end of the game.
"So, at times," Dart continued, "it honestly doesn't even feel real because you feel like you're in control of the entire game and somehow things just don't work. That's just the beauty of the sport is, it could go one way, it could go the other way and when you're playing at this level of competition, especially for me, I've come to realize that it doesn't matter how you play at all until - it's who scores last, who has the ball last and who makes that last crucial play at the end of the game."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWill Jaxson Dart earn that chance Monday night? If he does and delivers for the Giants, especially with Drake Maye on the other side, it will have the makings of his biggest moment yet.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Could Jaxson Dart vs. Drake Maye evoke flashbacks of Eli vs. Brady?
AdvertisementAdvertisement
