Giants Fall into Further into Despair with 16-13 Loss to Vikings

The New York Giants continued their losing ways, falling to the Minnesota Vikings 16-13. The Giants dropped to 2-13 this season, with both wins coming at home.

In a change of events, the Giants' defense starred for much of the afternoon as it posted a touchdown before halftime on a Tyler Nubin scoop-and-score of a J.J. McCarthy fumble forced by outside linebacker Brian Burns.

That play cut New York’s deficit to 13-10. The Giants' defense also collected four quarterback sacks and held the Vikings offense to just 240 yards and one touchdown.

However, of the Vikings’ ten longest plays from scrimmage, five came on third-and-long.

“Obviously, we don't want to give up those big third downs,” interim head coach Mike Kafka said after the game.

“It might be something as simple as just the fundamentals, getting the guy down and tackling him. I know on a couple, we had some opportunities to tackle them short of the sticks. Didn't do it.”

Meanwhile, New York's offense was under the vice grip of a Vikings defense led by defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

While the Giants leaned on their ground game throughout, quarterback Jaxson Dart mustered only seven completions for 33 passing yards on 13 pass attempts, and the Giants finished with a net of 13 yards passing.

It was Dart's first game of his NFL career that he completed from start to finish without a touchdown toss and under 100 yards passing. He was also sacked five times by five different Vikings defenders.

“I thought Jaxson overall with the plan he understood the plan, and at the line of scrimmage he was doing a good job of seeing it and being decisive of what he wanted to do,” Kafka said of Dart’s performance.

“I think as he learns, and as he sees more of these, the ability to get the ball out just a touch faster, use some of those sights, and keep his mind clear on it, and not put himself in a bad spot, because I thought he had some opportunities downfield.”

The Giants' offense finished with only 141 total yards on 48 plays, which was the unit's lowest yardage output on the season. Of that yardage, 128 came on the ground with running back Tyrone Tracy leading the way with 71 rushing yards on 16 carries.

Minnesota lost quarterback J.J. McCarthy for the entire second half after he injured his hand on a Brian Burns sack-fumble that second-year safety Tyler Nubin returned for a touchdown.

Max Brosmer took his place and completed 7-of-9 passes for 53 yards while going 3-for-4 for 30 yards on the team's go-ahead, fourth quarter drive that spanned 14 plays and over six minutes of gametime.

As productive as New York's defense was for the first time in weeks, it surrendered over 100 rushing yards as a unit to yet another offensive opponent. Aaron Jones rushed for 85 yards on 21 carries, with 32 of them coming on the Vikings' final two drives that put the game away for good.

Burns led the way once again for the Giants' pass-rush with his fifth multiple-sack game of the season. It was the first time this month that Burns collected a quarterback sack, giving him multi-sack performances in each month of the 2025 regular season so far.

Abdul Carter also posted a sack of Brosmer during the fourth quarter, his second consecutive game with a sack. Rotational edge rusher Chauncey Golston posted his first sack of the season with a takedown of McCarthy during his first-half action.

Prior to the Vikings salting the game away, Dart had a chance to lead New York on a game-winning drive to salvage a pedestrian day.

A drop by Darius Slayton beyond the sticks ruined the drive's forward momentum before a third-down incompletion to Wan'Dale Robinson and a fourth-down sack from Andrew Van Ginkel. Still, it ended New York's middling offensive day.

The Giants head on the road next week to face the Las Vegas Raiders.

What happens next with the NY Giants? Find out! Follow and like us on Facebook. Visit our YouTube channel for the latest videos. Want to send a question in for our mailbag? You can do so here.

More New York Giants Coverage