The New York Giants’ losing streak reached seven games with last weekend’s 33-15 defeat to the New England Patriots.
And as frustrating as that loss was, perhaps even more infuriating for Giants fans was the vicious hit rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart took from Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss.
On a second-and-13 with 4:21 left in the first quarter of that game, Dart faked a handoff and scrambled to his right. As he tip-toed down the sideline and approached the first-down marker, Elliss laid a monster shoulder-to-shoulder hit on the signal-caller that sent him flying out of bounds.
While video replay showed Elliss’ hit was clean (and legal), the optics of Dart being jettisoned a few yards into his own sideline riled up several Giants players, including second-year tight end Theo Johnson, who immediately went after Elliss.
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Johnson gave Elliss a hard shove and players from both sides surrounded them as more pushing and shoving ensued.
A 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty was called on Johnson, which wiped out Dart’s 12-yard gain, but that wasn’t the worst of it. On Saturday, Johnson was also hit with a $6,488 fine for a late hit on Elliss.
Teammate Andru Phillips was also hit with a $7,292 fine for a hit on a defenseless player.
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The Dart hit had many fans divided on social media. Some believed Elliss should’ve been flagged for the hit given it was unnecessary because Dart was likely going out of bounds anyway, while others claim plays like that are how QBs take advantage of gaining extra yardage because defenders are too afraid to hit them.
Regardless, Dart maintained that he’s not going to change the way he plays.
“Look, I understand the question, but this is football — I’m going to get hit if I’m in the pocket or outside the pocket,” Dart told reporters. “I feel like I played this way my whole entire life. It shouldn’t be any shocker to anybody if you followed along with my career. We’re not playing soccer out here. You’re going to get hit. Things happen. It’s just part of the game.”
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