The New York Giants traveled to Foxboro to play the New England Patriots on primetime this week, and were hoping to bounce back after a close loss against the Lions last week. There was a lot of hope that could happen with rookie QB Jaxson Dart back in the lineup after missing a game due to a concussion, but it's not looking good so far.
Things have already been chippy between the two teams, despite not being divisional rivals, and their history is more than a decade old, which the ESPN broadcast will continue to remind us all a thousand times during the show.
The chippy behavior came to a head on the Giants' first drive, when Patriots LB Christian Elliss hit Dart hard out of bounds, prompting the entire New York offense to run to his defense, chasing Elliss down the sideline.
#Patriots Christian Ellis lays the BOOM on #Giants QB Jaxson Dart
— Hailmarypass (@Hailmarypass_) December 2, 2025
Clean hit, Dart needs to get out of bounds…
(h/t @AryePulliNFL)
pic.twitter.com/kStH6RImcf
Fortunately, the officials made the right call, flagging a Giants player for unnecessary roughness and not for Elliss' legal hit, prompting some former Patriots to make their opinions known on social media.
Jason McCourty shares the same feeling as Patriots fans after the big hit on Jaxson Dart
Because so many Giants fans were quick to say what Elliss did was illegal, commentators Joe Aikman and Joe Buck made sure to clarify that it was, in fact, not worthy of a flag, and it should be more of a lesson to Dart to get out of bounds sooner.
Most deemed it a "welcome to the NFL" type of hit that the rookie will learn from, and former Patriot Jason McCourty even stated that Dart's teammates should've used that anger out on their quarterback, not on the Patriots' defense.
Giants offensive players need to be fighting Dart if they want to protect him. His ass keeps taking hits and they’re getting mad at the defense
— Jason McCourty (@JasonMcCourty) December 2, 2025
Considering Dart is just coming back from a concussion, you'd think he would be more careful in avoiding another potential injury, especially one to the head. Tip-toeing on the sideline rather than taking a few steps out to avoid being hit is a boneheaded move that could have been avoided.
Instead, he remained in bounds and allowed Elliss to hit him hard to end the play, and although it's good that his teammates responded in his defense, it wasn't because the play shouldn't have happened.
In Dart's case, and for Giants' fans, you hope he won't repeat that mistake again in this game or any other, for that matter.