Sitting at 1–1 early in the season, the Arizona Cardinals just caught a massive break—or a major plot twist—regarding their upcoming Week 4 opponent.
As the dust settles on a rough home opener, the New York Giants are suddenly staring down a potential nightmare scenario, radically changing how things look for next month’s showdown at MetLife Stadium. Their QB, Jaxson Dart, could be done for the season.
Dart’s knee injury from getting sandwiched between two Rams edge rushers headlined the injury reports in Week 2. When he exited in the first quarter and did not return, the panic meter was already going up in New York.
The Giants were waiting to know the severity of Dart’s injury, and the scans finally came through on Tuesday.
Jaxson Dart Out for the Season, Changes Cardinals-Giants Game Scenario
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, the MRI results showed that the damage was worse than expected.
Dart will be out for an “extended period of time,” and the injury could be season-ending.
During his media appearance on Tuesday afternoon, the Giants head coach John Harbaugh confirmed that Dart is continuing to be evaluated and they have not made any decisions on the quarterback’s future status. The team “learned a lot more” about the injury following the MRI.
“It’s an ongoing conversation about the health of a player, of a person,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve got to prepare for the range of possibilities.”
As for whether the injury could require season-ending surgery, Harbaugh said, “I don’t think I could really comment on that right now until we know for sure what’s going to transpire.”
Dart going out of the equation changes everything for the Giants game. What looked like a brutal late-September road test suddenly turns into a very winnable afternoon where an opportunistic Arizona defense can feast if they dictate the tempo early.
Seattle’s defense was an impenetrable brick wall, and the offense couldn’t run the ball at all. The Giants’ defense is a bit more forgiving than that, with the vulnerabilities they have.
That’s for the offense. As for their defense, holding an incoherent Mike McDaniel offense in Week 1 was the main reason why they won vs. the Chargers. With Dart out of the equation, it would be easier to replicate their Week 1 scenario.
Sure, they’ll have receivers like Malik Nabers to take care of, but Dart out of the picture makes a win for the Cardinals that much more believable.
Cardinals Get Crushing Injury News of Their Own
Having Dart out of the question will be a huge relief for Mike LaFleur, but before the actual Week 5 game, the Cardinals got one season-ending injury themselves.
Cardinals starting cornerback Will Johnson suffered a neck injury in their 31-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Head coach Mike LaFleur shared the update Monday.
“You’re sick for Will, for obvious reasons, the person over the player,” LaFleur said in his September 21 presser. “And then obviously his teammates are sick for him too.”
LaFleur confirmed that Johnson’s injury was season-ending, and that they’re putting him on injury reserve.
New Jaxson Dart Update Changes Everything for Cardinals vs. Giants in Week 4