The rest of 2025 just became a Giants proving ground

For nearly a month, from when Jaxson Dart won his first career start to the moment when Cam Skattebo sat on the Lincoln Financial Field ground with his right ankle facing a way it’s not supposed to, the Giants could dream of being in the playoff picture.

They won a pair of games and were a fourth-quarter defensive collapse away from a third. The loss to the Saints was ugly, but they inevitably would encounter growing pains along the way — and that, to a degree, made it understandable. For those five weeks, the focus shifted from what Big Blue could become to what they could be in 2025. There were trade deadline rumors. Recommended solutions for how to fix the lack of offensive weapons after Malik Nabers’ season-ending injury. There was, for the first time in a long time, legitimate buzz surrounding the Giants.

But that changed after Skattebo’s deflating injury and the subsequent 38-20 loss to the Eagles. The Giants sit at 2-6 entering their game Sunday against the depleted yet powerful 49ers, the day when the rest of their season gets reframed. Who knows what would have happened against the Eagles if they had the momentum of beating the Broncos and if Skattebo doesn’t get hurt, but now, it’s back to being about development again, back to being about the strides, back to the opportunities for Giants players to prove that they can fit in the long-term outlook of the roster.

Sports+ takes a look at five things the Giants should be trying to prove and players who have the most to prove over their final nine games.