Shockwaves in the NFL: Jaxson Dart Fires Back After Peyton Manning and League Legends Rip Him for a Brutal Hit — Declaring He’ll ‘Never Back Down’ as Critics Try to Silence the Giants’ Young QB. Is This the Moment Dart Becomes New York’s Most Fearless Leader?
Jaxson Dart and the New York Giants just couldn’t take down the AFC Goliath that is the New England Patriots.
On Monday Night Football, the Patriots – led by talisman and MVP candidate Drake Maye – handled business at Gillette Stadium and tacked on their 11th win of the 2025 NFL regular season – and boosted their Super Bowl stakes – with a resounding 33-15 victory.
Jaxson Dart has defended his decision to absorb hits, stating that it is just part of football
Dart may have only recorded 17-of-24 passing for 139 yards and a touchdown, as well as an additional 20 yards on the ground from four carries, but his efforts extended far beyond the box score.
The rookie quarterback – who won the starting job off of Super Bowl winner and 14-year veteran Russell Wilson earlier in the season – was once again unafraid to put his body on the line in an effort to help march the Giants down the field.
Speaking after the defeat, Dart defended his decision to play hard once again – despite previous criticism from Hall of Famer Troy Aikman – which at times, saw him take some heavy hits.
“This is football. I’m going to get hit if I’m in the pocket or outside the pocket,” Dart said postgame.
“I’ve played this way my whole entire life. It shouldn’t be any shocker to anybody if you’ve followed along with my career.
“We’re not playing soccer out here. You’re going to get hit, things happen. It’s just part of the game.”
The play which drew the most criticism was when Dart was on the receiving end of a hard – but legal – hit from Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss just before he ran out of bounds trying to scramble for a first down.
At this point, the team were trailing 10-0 with four minutes remaining in the first quarter.
NFL icons share their two cents
With the Giants quarterback fighting for the additional yardage, former NFL coach Jon Gruden weighed in on what he felt Dart should have done instead of taking the hit.
“Please get out of bounds,” Gruden posted on X.
Dart always plays hard to try and help his team win
Giants rookie LB Abdul Carter (L) was benched for the first possession of the game due to violating team rules
Similarly, Hall of Fame quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, who were live on their MNF Manningcast, offered their views after a mini brawl ensued as Giants tight end Theo Johnson took particular exception to the hit on his QB and friend.
The rest of the Big Blue offense out on the field also followed suit.
“Jeez. Jeez,” former Giants icon Eli said. “Obviously he [Dart] told me he’d run out of bounds if he was near the sideline. He lied to me. That would have been a good case to go out of bounds. Goodness.”
As the pair watched the replay, Peyton added, “That’s not late… I like Johnson protecting his wingman. I like it. But that’s a legal hit.
“I feel like those linebackers are gonna play a running quarterback a little differently. You’ve seen quarterbacks fake to go out of bounds, come back in. You’ve seen [Patrick] Mahomes do that.
“I know that annoys defensive players. ‘Hey, do we hit ’em? Do we not hit ’em?’… I loveteammates defending their quarterback, I always like to see that. But that was a legal hit by that guy.”
Although Dart did his best to ignite the offense, on the other side of the ball it was a different story.
As the Giants defense allowed 395 total yards, rookie linebacker – and third overall pick – Abdul Carter was benched for the second time in three weeks due to violating team rules.
With the defeat, Dart and the Giants fall to 2-11 on the season with four games remaining of the season – their 12th losing season in 14 years since they won the Super Bowl in 2011 with Manning under center.
