Young Guns Dart and Maye set for Prime-time Duel

It hasn't been easy for New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart to watch the past two games while he was stuck in the NFL's concussion protocol.

Although it was exciting for Jameis Winston to continue the offense's momentum, the Giants squandered two more late fourth-quarter leads in defeats that were tough to stomach.

Which brings Dart to his first-ever start on Monday Night Football when he returns to the lineup against the New England Patriots, who entered the weekend with the NFL's best record at 10-2.

Dart showed no signs of doubt in discussing the matchup despite the possibility of having to get into a shootout against opposing quarterback Drake Maye, a second-year pro who's having an MVP-caliber season.

In reality, the game is simply just another part of Dart's education process. Besides, he already is 1-0 in primetime after leading a dominant home victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football in Week 6.

"The season so far has been tough because our record could completely be flipped the other way, and everybody here is in a completely different state of mind," said Dart, who will be playing for the first time under interim head coach Mike Kafka.

"But I've just come to realize that in the NFL, if you don't make those crunch-time moment plays and the other team does, you’re going to lose, and it doesn't really matter how well you play up until the end of the game.

"So, at times, it honestly doesn't even feel real because you feel like you're in control of the entire game and somehow things just don't work. That's just the beauty of the sport: it could go one way, it could go the other.

“When you're playing at this level of competition, especially for me, I've come to realize that it doesn't matter how you play at all until who scores last, who has the ball last, and who makes that last crucial play at the end of the game."

Where are the favorable matchups for the Giants against the highly-ranked Patriots defense? We sort through that and discuss the most important aspects of what the Giants must do to pull off a win in the latest edition of the Big Blue Breakdown podcast, available in the video above.

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