Why Jaxson Dart Thinks John Harbaugh-Led Giants Can Pull Off Patriots-Like Turnaround

The Giants quarterback is confident his team will bounce back from a 4-13 season.

Quarterback Jaxson Dart believes the Giants will be ready to compete right away. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is not a fan of his first NFL offseason so far, no matter how exciting postseason action has been leading up to Super Bowl LX.

"Watching these playoffs has been just miserable," Dart said in an interview with Sports Illustrated on behalf of Kinder Bueno. "You want to be a part of it and you want to be in those environments."

One thing Dart can get excited about, though, is the Giants' hire of new head coach John Harbaugh. The former Ravens coach is taking over a Giants squad that went 4-13 last year and is a combined 7-27 over its last two seasons.

Having played 14 games in his first season in a Giants uniform, Dart is thrilled to see what Harbaugh, who has been vocal of his admiration of Dart's potential, brings to the team.

"When you have a coach who has confidence in you and believes in you, as players, that makes us play better because you know that your coach has that confidence and that belief that in any given moment they're going to pick their guy over anybody else's," Dart said. "I think from a player's standpoint, he's a coach that I've picked over any other coach, and I'm excited for him and for us as a team."

The Giants don't have to look far to see how quickly a team can turn around.

Coming off back-to-back 4-13 seasons, the Patriots entered 2025 led by a new head coach in Mike Vrabel and manned by a sophomore quarterback in Drake Maye. Now, New England is one win away from a Super Bowl victory, with the Seahawks standing in the team's way.

When asked if Dart takes inspiration from what Maye and the Patriots have accomplished this year, he is weary to make any direct comparisons to his situation in New York.

"I think that just says a lot about [Maye] and how he's prepared for this season, the growth that he made from last year," Dart said. "I'm excited to see how the [Super Bowl] unfolds, but when it comes to a comparison standpoint, I don't really want to get into that. I think everybody's journey is separate of how they go about and how they experience their career and go through their career because the situations are just different, you can't really compare. There's just so many moving pieces."

But when asked if the Giants can pull off a similar turnaround to what the Patriots accomplished this season, Dart has no hesitation in his answer.

"Absolutely."

Dart is not interested in the Giants taking their time; he thinks the team has what it takes to win right away.

"If you go into any season with the highest accomplishment not on your mind of chasing the Super Bowl, winning a Super Bowl, I think that you've already lost a season," Dart said. "So, I'm not looking to rebuild. I'm not looking for a process of years to come. I'm ready to go right now and I know the guys are feeling that same way. This organization these last several years have been in some hard seasons. And everybody's just starving to win."

Before the Giants can start working towards that goal, Dart will watch the Patriots and Seahawks face off in the Super Bowl, during which Kinder Bueno will debut its first-ever ad in the big game. Dart has teamed up with Kinder Bueno ahead of the Super Bowl to promote one of his favorite candy brands.

"It was a no-brainer for me," Dart said about partnering with Kinder Bueno. "You know what we say, it was a 'yes Bueno' situation."

Dart, admittedly someone with a sweet tooth, says he tries to avoid candy around game days but enjoys Kinder Bueno on the comfort of his couch while watching a movie or TV show.

"Just like anybody else, you want to have a sweet treat at night or just times throughout the day where we're just craving something," Dart said. "So I've always had a sweet tooth and definitely Kinder Bueno hits the spot for me."

It's safe to say that Dart will be enjoying a Kinder Bueno or two while watching this year's Super Bowl, with one thing on his mind: being in that spot next year.

"Our team's ready to go chase the big one, right now," Dart said.

---