At this point in the 2025 NFL season, there really isn’t much left to learn about this New York Giants team. They’re bad. As a former scientist, I do appreciate that ownership has tried to apply the scientific method to understand why.
Minnesota
4 things we learned from the Giants’ 16-13 loss to the Vikings
Two hypotheses were offered by fans and the Giants beat writers in mid-season. The Giants are bad because (a) the coaches are bad, or (b) the players (and hence the general manager) are bad. They couldn’t realistically fire the entire coaching staff in mid-season, but they did fire the two most frequent targets of fans’ and writers’ wrath, head coach Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. They’ve now run the experiment for five weeks, taken the Petri dish out, and the results are in: The Giants still stink. So we now know it wasn’t (just) the coaches, although it’s possible that Mike Kafka and Charlie Bullen are as bad as Daboll and Bowen.
No scientific experiment is perfect, but today we got another data point. What did we learn from the Giants’ 16-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings?
Is Mike Kafka the second coming of Joe Judge?
When Brian Daboll was still head coach, the Giants had some of their most successful offensive games this season after Jaxson Dart took over as starter. That more or less continued until Dart’s concussion in Chicago, during another blown fourth quarter lead, precipitated Daboll’s dismissal. Kafka, who supposedly had been given back the play calling this year, now had complete charge of the offense, and it looked good, even great at times, in his first two games as head coach with Jameis Winston at the helm.
Since Dart returned, though, things haven’t been the same…except for the losing. Dart has played some of his worst ball since returning to the lineup against New England. Today was clearly the worst game of his Giants career, with only 33 yards passing on the day. Maybe the absence of designed runs has taken something important from his arsenal.
Or maybe Kafka is coaching scared. Last week I was upset at how often he called running plays on 2nd and 10 after incomplete passes. Today Kafka just bypassed first down passes completely for a while. Kafka called runs on the Giants’ first four offensive plays. The first two worked for big gains, but the next two didn’t. Kafka finally called passes on two consecutive plays, neither of which worked, but both of which were canceled by Minnesota penalties. Given new life at the Vikings’ 16 yard line, Kafka called three consecutive runs that only got them to 4th and goal at the 5 yard line. THEN, rather than kick the field goal to get back to a 3-3 tie, he decided to have Dart pass…which resulted in a sack and change of possession.
This is terrible play calling. You’re telling your QB that you have no faith in him. It brought back memories of the final two games of the Joe Judge Experience, when he refused to let Mike Glennon pass at all after the first quarter in Chicago, and then had Jake Fromm not even attempt to get first downs deep in his own territory. I get it – Brian Flores runs a difficult defense to diagnose, and you’re risking disastrous turnovers if he’s confusing your rookie QB. But Flores was blitzing Dart about 70% of the time, and play callers are supposed to have hot reads for the QB to throw to in order to blunt the effect of the pressure. If you don’t let your QB experience that, you’re stifling his development. If you’re using 12 personnel and then almost always running out of it rather than passing, you’re tying your QB’s hands.
You’re not in good hands with the Giants’ receiving corps
The counter to my point above is that minus Malik Nabers, the Giants’ receivers are a really unreliable group. On the rare occasions that Dart did try to pass, he was undercut by his receivers’ inability to corral the ball. Darius Slayton bobbled and lost another pass that would have been a first down. Wan’DaleRobinson, among the more sure-handed of the Giants’ receivers, let a pass hit him in the face mask and be bobbled before he got hit and it fell incomplete. Admittedly it was a pass that Dart floated rather than putting velocity on so Robinson could gather it in well before contact, but it was still a drop. Finally, Theo Johnson once again could not bring in a pass that he should have been able to go get, letting it bounce off his hands for an interception.
The pass rush is looking up
Granted, the Vikings’ OL is not the best, but the Giants got good pressure on J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer today. The beneath-the-surface story of today’s game was that the QB the Giants chose not to draft last year faced the QB they chose to trade up for this year. McCarthy, after a rough start to his career, had played great the previous two games, making the Viking offense suddenly look like a juggernaut. Today, The Giants sacked McCarthy three times and Brosmer once and held the two of them together to 160 yards passing. Brian Burns had two more sacks, continuing his excellent season, and Abdul Carter was active again, with another sack on a beautiful inside spin, his signature move, plus several other pressures. In addition, Chauncey Golston, who has been injured for much of his first Giants season and invisible when he’s been out there, got his first sack and was generally active when he was in the game.
Maybe it was the pass rush, maybe it was the inexperienced QBs, but today was the first day that I thought the Giants’ secondary played well this season. Paulson Adebo had his first interception as a Giant. Jevon Holland had what should have been a pick-6, but it was called back because Abdul Carter lined up in the neutral zone. Oof. Tyler Nubin finally made a positive play this season, recovering McCarthy’s fumble and returning it 27 yards for a TD.
I also thought the Giants’ linebackers had one of their best games of the season, especially Bobby Okereke, who has been MIA since Wink Martindale stormed out the door. Okereke even broke up a pass to Justin Jefferson.
After a 3-year odyssey, the Giants today looked like they actually have a kicker who can make field goals in Ben Sauls. Granted, they were only 27 and 39 yards, but we’ll take what we can get as Giants fans. Besides,he was kicking in what looked like a decent wind today and it looked like he placed them perfectly to compensate for the wind. He also made his only extra point, which would not be a big deal on any other team, but as Giants fans we count our blessings, however small.
Speaking of blessings, the dream of the No. 1 pick remains alive, with unexpected help from the Titans, who handily defeated the cratering Chiefs.
Of the many terrible roster decisions Minnesota sports teams have made over the past 30 years, the worst of the bunch may have been trading Randy Moss to the Raiders for the No. 7 pick in the draft and linebacker Napoleon Harris.
Why are we bringing up a trade that happened 21 years ago? Because the New York Giants traded defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the No. 10 pick in this week’s NFL Draft. It was the first time a non-quarterback has been traded for a top-10 pick since the infamous Moss trade in 2005.
Minnesota traded Moss for the Raiders’ first-round pick, Harris, and a seventh-round pick on March 2, 2005. The Vikings used the No. 7 pick on wide receiver Troy Williamson, who never panned out in the NFL. He had 24 catches for 372 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie, 37 receptions for 457 yards and zero touchdowns in 2006, and just 18 catches for 240 yards and one touchdown in 2007.
Williams led the league with 11 dropped passes in 2006. Minnesota traded him to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a sixth-round pick after the 2007 season, where he played in 10 games over two seasons and totaled just eight catches for 64 yards. He was cut before the start of the 2010 season, and that was a wrap on the former South Carolina speedster’s NFL career.
Moss didn’t put up jaw-dropping numbers with the Raiders for two seasons, but he set an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches in 2007 with the New England Patriots. He caught 47 touchdowns in 48 regular-season games with the Patriots from 2007 to 2009.
Whether it was trading Moss to the Raiders, the Timberwolves sending Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics — or drafting Ricky Rubio AND Johnny Flynn over Steph Curry — or the Twins cutting David Ortiz and watching him become one of the greatest players in MLB history with the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota sports teams have a long history of making terrible decisions.
The Bengals, meanwhile, gave up the 10th overall pick for one of the best defensive tackles in the league. They’ll likely get great production from Lawrence, while the Giants are now under pressure to get the 10th pick right. New York also holds the No. 5 pick in Thursday’s first round of the draft.
By the way, the Vikings had two picks in the first round of the 2005 draft. After taking Williamson, they used the No. 18 pick on defensive end Erasmus James. He was just as much of a bust as Williams, playing in 23 games in three years with the Vikings. He had four sacks as a rookie, but injuries wiped out most of his 2006 and 2007 seasons before he was traded to Washington for a conditional seventh-round pick.
James was cut by Washington in December 2009, marking the end of his NFL career.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist for the Wild, who are the No. 3 seed in the Central Division. Wallstedt made 27 saves in his Stanley Cup Playoff debut, and Zuccarello had three assists.
“I was definitely nervous,” said Wallstedt, a rookie. “I think it shows that it means something to you. I like a little bit of nerves. I think it’s something good. There were definitely some nerves throughout the day and then a little bit extra rolling into the game. But after the national anthem was over and the first couple pucks started coming, you’re good.
“I wanted to play and I felt like I have been going good. I was a little surprised (to get the start). But I was very excited as soon as I got the news. I just wanted to make sure I was ready today.”
Jason Robertson scored, and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for the Stars, who are the No. 2 seed in the Central.
“We didn’t deserve to win,” Dallas forward Mikko Rantanen said. “I think two power-play goals for them, two a little-bit bounces for them where we had guys in the right spot. Just even keel. Playoffs are like this. Sometimes you lose a game, you can feel like you’re done. But that’s the mentality you need to have, you’ve got to reset and learn from mistakes.
“First 30 minutes, we didn’t win enough battles. They were just that little bit stronger in the battles and that’s why they were able to make us defend more than we want to. Just got to be stronger.”
Game 2 is here on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; FDSNWI, FDSNNO, Victory+, ESPN, TVAS2, SN360).
“We prepped for a couple days coming into this one. Now, we will gather information from this game and continue to move forward,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “For me, it’s game to game and day to day. We want to continue to get better. We won and they [Dallas] lost. It’s not so much being satisfied where you’re at or that’s what it is. We need to continue to find ways to get better.”
Eriksson Ek gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period on the power play. He scored on a one-timer from the left hash marks to finish a tic-tac-toe passing play with Zuccarello and Boldy, who found an open Eriksson Ek with a pass from the goal line.
“I think every team in the playoffs talks about not getting too high or too low. Just enjoy every day and each game and then we will go from there,” Eriksson Ek said. “I think we played pretty good today. The next game is a new game, so we just have to do it over and over every game. We know they are probably not the happiest with that game, so I am sure it’s going to be hard next game.”
Minnesota prosecutors charged a federal immigration agent with assault accusing him of involvement in a February road-rage incident.
Trump administration ends Minnesota immigration operation
Border Czar Tom Homan announced the end of Minnesota’s immigration operation after fatal shootings heightened tension and community backlash.
Minnesota prosecutors charged a federal immigration agent with assault, saying the agent was involved in a February road-rage incident during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., 35, faces two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, according to April 16 Hennepin County court records. He has a nationwide warrant for his arrest.
On Feb. 5, prosecutors said Morgan allegedly drove illegally on the shoulder of a congested Minnesota highway in an unmarked SUV and pointed his weapon at two people in another car.
Morgan is the first agent charged in Operation Metro Surge, the controversial Minneapolis-area federal immigration operation that resulted in two American citizens fatally shot by federal officials, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
The charges “reflect an important milestone in our efforts to seek accountability for the harms inflicted on our community during Operation Metro Surge,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in an April 16 video statement.
Second-degree assault with a gun has a presumptive sentence of 36 months in prison if convicted, she said.
“Mr. Morgan’s conduct was extremely dangerous,” she said, adding his actions could have led to “another disastrous incident” in the community.
Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to email requests for comment. A cell phone listed for Morgan, identified as a Maryland resident, didn’t immediately respond to a call or text message.
The incident came less than two weeks after two Customs and Border Protection officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, 37, during a protest in Minneapolis. Pretti would be the second American killed during Metro Surge after an ICE agent in early January fatally shot Renee Good, 37, while she drove her SUV in Minneapolis near an immigration operation.
Later in February, the Trump administration drew down Metro Surge, which officials called the largest immigration operation in modern American history.
Investigators said they interviewed Morgan, who identified himself as the driver. Morgan told investigators he and the other ICE employee were returning from a surveillance shift. Morgan said he feared for his life and others’ safety, so he pulled up alongside the vehicle and drew his Glock 19 firearm. He said he identified himself as police.
State investigators said neither Morgan nor the other ICE agent reported the incident to an ICE supervisor.
The April 16 warrant, signed by District Court Judge Paul Scoggin, said there was a “substantial likelihood” Morgan would fail to respond to a summons, and officials couldn’t locate him.
On April 18, Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for the county attorney’s office, said there is no knowledge of Morgan being arrested yet.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
-
Arizona5 minutes agoPerson accused of making terroristic threats to medical facility in northern Arizona
-
Arkansas11 minutes agoCentral Arkansas council hands out 300 free produce bags at Saline County fresh market
-
California17 minutes agoCalifornia regulators kill charity fireworks for America’s 250th, sparking outrage
-
Colorado23 minutes agoOutgoing Colorado Buffaloes Sebastian Rancik, Bangot Dak Make Transfer Portal Moves
-
Connecticut29 minutes agoOne arrested after a multi-car crash in Naugatuck Saturday
-
Delaware35 minutes ago9 Most Scenic Drives in New Jersey
-
Florida41 minutes agoSouth Florida faith leaders call for Miami mental health center to finally open
-
Georgia47 minutes ago
Georgia receiver and draft prospect Zachariah Branch arrested for misdemeanor obstruction
