There have been some, shall we say, statements of interest coming out of New York here in the days before the Cowboys and the Giants kick off Week 1 with a “Sunday Night Football” NFC East tilt. The Giants are certainly feeling their oats heading into the new season, having cleaned house and welcomed in new coach John Harbaugh, with second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart now firmly entrenched at the helm. The Cowboys have taken some criticism for talking about the Super Bowl after two seven-win seasons, but the Giants have probably been carrying too much swagger for a team that has won seven total games in two years.
This week, it was Dart at the podium making a claim heading into what could be seen as a rivalry game–though most Cowboys fans would put Washington and Philadelphia ahead of the Giants on the team’s rivalry scoreboard. Nonetheless, Dart made his claim.
“I feel like most rivalries, I’ve totally dominated,” Dart said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever been on the other side of a rivalry.”
Jaxson Dart’s Rivalry Record Is … Not Great
At that, Cowboys backers and observers chuckled. Dart, at 23 years old, has had limited experience with real rivalries and, in fact, has not dominated the ones he’s been in.
He was, as one Twitter/X user noted, central to one in which he was firmly on “the other side,” back when he was at USC before transferring to Mississippi. He was 27-for-47 with two interceptions back in 2021 when the Trojans lost to rival UCLA by a 62-33 score.
Many more noted that Dart was 1-2 vs. LSU while he was quarterbacking for Mississippi. Cowboys beat writer Nick Harris sought out the data, and reported that the only way to get Dart over .500 against rivals in his career is to go back to high school. Wrote Harris: “3-1 vs. Lehi Skyridge (high school); 0-1 vs. UCLA (at USC); 2-1 vs. Mississippi State (at Ole Miss); 2-2 vs. NFC East opponents last year.”
Cowboys Will Seek to Contain Scrambles
And there was, from RJ Ochoa, editor at the Cowboys site Blogging the Boys, this elegant response: “OK then.”
To be fair, Dart did beat the Cowboys in the season finale last year, 34-17, though Dallas was sitting Dak Prescott for more of the game, with Joe Milton as the starter, and also did not play start running back Javonte Williams. Dart was 22-for-32 passing with 230 yards and two touchdowns that day.
Dart will be a handful, especially for the defensive line, as he likes to scramble. The new-look Cowboys defense will need to show it can be much better at corralling mobile quarterbacks than it was last year.
“Yeah, tough quarterback to go against,” defensive lineman Kenny Clark said. “He can throw the ball really well, and the biggest thing isjust making sure our rush lanes are clear. Got to do a good job at containing him because he can get out the pocket and make some, great plays on his feet. So, got to do a good job of containing him for sure.”
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