Underdog Giants Looking to Make Week 4 Statement vs. Chargers

If any New York Giants fans were hoping for a better outcome in the opening lines for their next home game at MetLife Stadium in Week 4 on Sunday, think again, as the oddsmakers are only dragging the initial gap wider than it has been through three weeks.

According to FanDuel's opening odds as the first month of the NFL's regular season reaches its end, the Giants will stay home in East Rutherford for a cross-conference matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers. Still, they will enter the contest as a 6.5-point underdog to one of the hottest teams in the early stretch of the season.

The number now marks the largest that the oddsmakers have gifted the Giants this season after they were 5.5-point underdogs in Weeks 2 and 3 against the Cowboys and Chiefs. The over/under point total for the meeting is also set at 44.5 points once again, a figure that has only been covered in one game.

Compared to the team's past game against the Chiefs, which ended in another disappointment that lowered their record to 0-3 on the year, the Chargers are a nearly fully healthy product on the offensive side of the ball and one that has been pacing the top 10 organizations in the league.

Led by accomplished head coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Justin Herbert, the Chargers revamped their offensive huddle in the offseason, and it has helped spark the efficacy of their passing attack. They rank 14th in points and sixth in yards overall, but are boosted by top 10 placements in all five major aerial categories.

In a span of three games, the Chargers have made yeomen's work of two playoff teams from last season, averaging 23.2 points per game and 270 yards via the arm of Herbert.

They don't have the sharpest record in the red zone, converting just 40% of their visits into touchdowns, but they still find ways to score points and then rely on the strength of their defense, which has limited opponents to the lowest efficiency in the NFL.

That other side of the ball has been spectacular as well, forcing three turnovers and holding opposing offenses to an average of six plays and 27.7 yards per drive. That is a winning formula that could pose a threat to the Giants, whose offense has already been lackluster outside of their thriller in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys and is now undergoing a critical change at the most important position.

Ahead of Sunday's game, the Giants have announced that they will be switching from Russell Wilson to rookie Jaxson Dart, giving the latter his first true start at the professional level.

It's a move that became a possibility when head coach Brian Daboll sounded non-committal about the helm following the loss to Kansas City, and one that most people thought would wait until Week 5 in a softer landing spot against the New Orleans Saints.

The Giants' leadership is electing to not even wait that long, however, thrusting their No. 25 pick into the spotlight for a very challenging debut after Wilson sputtered into his negative form and struggled to move the ball through the air in the 22-9 loss to the Chiefs that saw him tally 160 yards and make two horrible interceptions.

Hopefully, this means that the franchise has reached the point of confidence that Dart has shown enough to prove that he is ready for this opportunity.

The fans have certainly been calling for it and made their voices heard in the latest loss, where Dart saw only a couple of snaps and only handed off the ball on the ground.

Still, this is not a decision that the Giants' coaching staff can make just to appease the fans. With how elite the Chargers have looked in the opening stretch, this is a Goliath-type matchup for a young quarterback prodigy to assume for his first start, and it could take his career in a disastrous direction if the performance falls flat or looks worse than that.

If anything, the Giants need to hope that the rookie can come in and provide a nice spark that hasn't been consistently seen from the offense. He'll need his offensive line to hold up as well, but at least that factor starts to work in Dart's favor with the return of left tackle Andrew Thomas, who played in the loss to the Chiefs and looked pretty stout as he has in his Giants tenure when healthy.

It's the start of the most important stretch of the Giants' 2025 season that many expected not to see arrive for another few weeks until the early gauntlet of their schedule gets cleaned up by Wilson playing under center.

The pressure is on with Wilson's showings not inspiring much hope, and that's all that the Giants seem to be able to hold onto as they navigate the rest of what's becoming a lost campaign.

In the Giants and Chargers all-time series history, they've met a total of 13 times, with the Chargers, who once played in San Diego, holding an 8-5 advantage.

The Giants have lost their last five consecutive meetings, including the most recent one in the 2021 season, when they were defeated 37-21 in the final year of the Joe Judge coaching era.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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