Giants, Week 1 — What Repeats: Zero Contested Throws for Dart

Jaxson Dart threw 29 passes on Sunday night, and the charters did not mark one of them contested — a receiver and a defender arriving together. Zero of 29. Across last season, on 341 charted throws, he threw into a crowd 13 and a half percent of the time. Nothing was dropped either, and nothing was thrown away. 22 of the 29 were catchable, 76 percent, tied for the ninth-highest rate of any offense in the league this week and above his own 72 from a year ago. One throw was charted interception-worthy, 3.4 percent, the league median to the decimal, and the Giants threw no interceptions. And none of his 31 dropbacks ended in a sack the charters put on him; last season 15 did, four percent of his dropbacks. The Recap had the nine third downs. The charting says the throws across the night were catchable and out of traffic — which is either the quarterback and the design or the defense he was facing, and one game cannot say which.

The offense around him reads differently from last season's on the charting sheet, and that is the paragraph to keep. Pre-snap motion on 45 of 83 charted plays — 54 percent, the fifth-highest rate in the league this week, against 31 percent across all of last season. No-huddle on one and a half percent of snaps, against 21 percent last season. Run-pass options on three percent of snaps, against 12. Play-action on 10 of 33 dropbacks, 30 percent, tied for ninth-highest in the league and up from 23 percent a year ago; Dart's seven play-action throws went five for 39 yards, and his 22 without a fake went 18 for a hundred and 91. One screen all night. Three fingerprints moved a long way — motion up, no-huddle and run-pass options nearly gone. One game of a new sheet is one game.

The designed runs went for a hundred and 60 yards into boxes of seven or more on most of them. Dallas showed six or fewer defenders on nine of the Giants' 32 designed runs — 28 percent, 20-eighth-highest in the league this week, which is to say only four offenses saw fewer light boxes. Last season this offense saw a light box on 55 percent of its designed runs, so the box was heavier than the Giants were used to a year ago, and the 32 runs went for a hundred and 60 anyway. Cam Skattebo carried 18 times for 81 and the touchdown. And the pass rush the offense faced was ordinary by count: five or more rushers on nine of 33 dropbacks, 27 percent, about the 26 the offense saw across last season.

The pass defense the Recap called the weak unit has this charting profile. New York sent five or more rushers on six of Dallas's 36 dropbacks — 17 percent, ninth-lowest in the league this week, against 30 percent across last season — and averaged 4.2 rushers per dropback. Dak Prescott put 27 of his 34 throws in catchable spots, 79 percent, seventh-highest in the league this week, and only two of the 34 were contested. What the defense got was help: Dallas receivers dropped three of those 27 catchable balls, 11 percent, and Prescott put one throw up for grabs, and the Giants had one interception; the pack does not say it was the same ball. On the other side of the ball, New York showed a light box on 13 of Dallas's 16 designed runs, 81 percent — the third-highest light-box rate any offense saw this week, and far above the 54 percent this defense showed across last season — and Dallas ran those 16 for 55 yards. Dallas also ran play-action on five of 36 dropbacks, 14 percent, fifth-lowest in the league; opponents of this defense faked on 23 percent of dropbacks a year ago. So the Giants sent five or more rarely, showed a light box on four of every five Dallas designed runs, and Dallas dropped back 36 times to 16 designed runs.

The stat lines have settled, so here they are, scored half-PPR. Dart, 26.6: 23 of 29 for 233 touchdowns, no interceptions, +11 carries for 54. Isaiah Likely caught all eight of his targets for 78 two touchdowns, 23.8. Skattebo, 18 carries for 81 and a score, 14.1. Devin Singletary ran six times for 16 and caught all four of his targets for 22 and a touchdown, 11.8. Malik Nabers caught six of nine for 69, 9.9. For Dallas, Javonte Williams ran 12 times for 41 and a touchdown and caught five of five for 31 and another, 21.7; Prescott went 22 of 34 for a hundred and 75, two touchdowns and an interception; CeeDee Lamb caught five of eight for 44 and a score.

One thing to be straight about before the thread, because the name of this show makes a promise it cannot keep in September. There has been only one game, so there is no within-season baseline. Everything above is set against all of last season — a roster that has turned over, a year older, and on this offense a scheme sheet that reads differently. That comparison shows you what was unusual about Sunday night. It is not the same as true. The version of this show that measures the Giants against their own recent weeks begins around Week 4, and until it does, we will say which comparison we are making every time.

The thread starts here. Last season, per the Recap, this team went four and 13, with a passing offense in the middle of the league, the fifth-ranked rushing offense and the last-ranked run defense. On Sunday night the passing game was the story, and the charting says how: no contested throws, no drops, no throwaways, on an offense that motioned on 54 percent of its plays against 31 a year ago and all but gave up the no-huddle. Two things go in the notebook. Whether the motion and tempo numbers are the offense now, which a few more games will tell you. And whether Dart's zero contested throws survives a defense that did not finish 30-first against the pass, which is the caveat the Recap attached and the charting cannot remove.

That's your Giants — every game, by the numbers. This is Muffed: we do the same deep dive for all 32 teams. Follow the Giants show wherever you're listening, so next week's recap lands the moment it's out. No theater. Just the football.

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_Data via nflverse. Charting: FTN Data via nflverse._