The New York Giants (0-3) will attempt to get in the win column for the first time this season when they host the undefeated Los Angeles Chargers (3-0) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday afternoon.
Here are six things to know before the Week 4 kickoff.
The series
This will be the 14th meeting between the Giants and Chargers since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. The Chargers lead the series, 8-5, and have won six of the last seven meetings, including the last five. The Giants are 3-4 at home and 2-4 away in the series.
The teams last met in Week 14 of the 2021 season at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The Chargers won, 37-21, behind a three-touchdown performance from quarterback Justin Herbert. Mike Glennon was under center for New York in that game.
Dart to start
The Giants had been planning to integrate rookie first-rounder Jaxson Dart into the offense at some point in the season. Many predicted around mid-season, similar to what they did with Eli Manning in 2004. But circumstances have changed. The offense has sputtered, scoring single digits in two of the first three games under starter Russell Wilson. So, in what appears to be a job and face-saving move, head coach Brian Daboll is ushering Dart in a few weeks early.
Charging ahead
The Chargers are 3-0 to start the season, their first such start since 2002. They opened the season with three straight wins against their AFC West opponents — Kansas City, Las Vegas, and Denver. In the process, Jim Harbaugh’s crew became just the third team since the NFL realigned to eight divisions of four teams back in 2002 to defeat division opponents in each of their first three games of a season. The 2006 Chicago Bears and 2003 Minnesota Vikings are the others.
Herbert the Great
Justin Herbert was the sixth overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft out of Oregon by the Chargers. The Giants had the fourth pick that year and passed him up for Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas. The thinking at the time was that they had selected Daniel Jones the year before and weren’t considering taking a quarterback. The thinking now is, well, fill in the blank.
So far this season, Jones and Herbert are frontrunners for NFL MVP. The Giants have neither of them.
Last week against Denver, Herbert passed for 300 yards and is the only quarterback with multiple 300-yard games this season. In his career, Herbert has 29 career games with at least 300 passing yards and can become the fourth player all-time with at least 30 such games in his first six career seasons this week against the Giants. The other three players are Patrick Mahomes (41 games) and Pro Football Hall of Famers Dan Marino (32) and Kurt Warner (30).
Bottom of the barrel
This season was supposed to be the “prove-it or move-it” one for Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen, and it still might be. Which direction it will go is still unknown. Right now, they are as bad as they’ve ever been since the two took over the reins in 2022.
The Giants are 27th in points per game (17.3), 31st in both third-down (27.5%) and fourth-down (37.5%) conversion rate, and have gone 2-for-10 in the red zone.
The defense has been equally as bad. They are allowing 27.7 points per game (24th), and are last in first downs allowed per game (26.3). They are near the bottom in every major statistical category, including 31st in yards allowed per game and 29th in red zone efficiency.
New faces to watch for
All eyes will be on Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart on Sunday. The Giants have little to lose, so the pressure will not be as high on him. I equate it to when Phil Simms first took the field back in 1979. Just come out gunning and don’t look back. The other players to watch are linebacker Abdul Carter, who the Giants will deploy all over the field, and running back Cam Skattebo and his high-energy style of play.
The Chargers have some rookie stars of their own, most notably running back Omarian Hampton, their first-round pick. He will be the lead back the rest of the season with Najee Harris (Achilles) out for the year. He ranks second among NFL rookies with 215 scrimmage yards (142 rush, 73 rec.) in 2025. Veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen is back for another stint with the Bolts. If you don’t understand what this means to the Chargers’ offense, you will after Sunday.
Allen is aiming for his fourth game in a row with 5+ catches, 60+ receiving yards, and a receiving touchdown. He is one of two in the NFL (Chicago’s Rome Odunze is the other) with a touchdown catch in each of the first three weeks of the season. Allen has 55+ receiving yards in each of two career games against the Giants.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants vs. Los Angeles Chargers: 6 things to know about Week 4 matchup
Reporting by John Fennelly, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
