The New Orleans Saints won their first game of the season against the New York Giants last week. The Giants were led into battle by Jaxson Dart making his second career start, and that was an easy thing to point to in order to dismiss the win. Just four days later, the Giants just beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Dart's third game. It's a lot harder to dismiss the Saints win now.
Dart has won two of his three starts since Brian Daboll made the switch to the rookie. He defeated the Los Angeles Chargers and Eagles. That's a strong way to start a career.
The Chargers game could be dismissed as beginner's luck, or a lack of film on Dart. That's what was said after the Saints held New York to 14 points. The Eagles have struggled, but that is still a huge win for the Giants. These are quality wins for New York that make the Saints' win over them look even better.
Time to look at the Saints' last two games a little deeper
You still don't want to make the win any bigger than it is. It's still unclear just how good the Giants are. They look better after Thursday's game for sure. The Saints don't seem to be low on morale, but this should add just a little bit to the stock.
The Saints beating the Giants shouldn't be viewed as a game you just write off. That win at first felt like a culmination of close calls and games that the Saints were unexpectedly competitive in. Then you play a team who is also a struggling squad and get the win.
We all know who you beat shapes the way we look at wins and losses. Instead of a struggling team, the Giants look like an upstart team with an increasingly bright future. If this were college football, the Giants' bounce back performance would help the Saints out in the Top 25 rankings.
It also makes you look back on the Saints competitive loss to the Bills more favorably. This is one of the better teams in the league, and you were pushing them late in the game. The Saints have a long way to go to find themselves at the Super Bowl, but seeing them compete with quality teams should be encouraging.