The Giants.com crew members give their biggest takeaways from Week 4.

John Schmeelk: The Jaxson Dart era started with a win for the Giants against the Chargers. He was the first Giants rookie quarterback to win his first start since Phil Simms beat the 5-0 Bucs in 1979. All quarterbacks, especially rookies, need support from their teammates to win games. He got help from the running backs (32 carries, 107 yards), good protection from the offensive line, and good field position from the defense and special teams.

But even with that help, the Giants do not win without Dart's playmaking. He did it with his legs and arm after moving up or out of the pocket. The Giants finished 7-15 on third down, with three of those conversions coming on passes, and three on Dart runs. There wasn't a ton of Dart finishing his three- or five-step drop with his foot hitting the ground and the ball coming out (though it did on his final third-down conversion to Theo Johnson to help seal the win). He took some sacks, which is fine for a rookie quarterback in his first start. But Dart moved around and succeeded on what Brian Daboll called loose plays in the week leading up to the game. He was creative. He brought a spark. He was a playmaker.

It might be difficult to sustain an offense over a long period of time playing that way, but when the defense plays the way it did, Dart made enough plays to push the Giants over the finish line for the victory. His athleticism and toughness energized the team and the stadium, even playing through a hamstring injury while continuing to run the football. He also didn't make any mistake and turn the ball over to cost the team the game. Dart will try to keep it going next week against the Saints.

Dan Salomone: The start of the dart era coincided with the end of Malik Nabers' season. No. 6 will now have to move ahead without No. 1. Brian Daboll confirmed the standout receiver suffered a torn ACL.

"We'll have a tremendous amount of support for him and his family," the head coach said Monday after the win. "That's obviously a tough loss for our football team, but we'll regroup, and we'll get the guys ready to play that are here and be as good as we can be. On the perimeter, I know those guys will do everything they can do to be as good as we can be. But certainly, when you lose one of your better players, that's a big loss."

Nabers suffered the knee injury with 6:12 left in the second quarter of Sunday's game and did not return. The second-year pro was attempting to catch a deep pass from Jaxson Dart on a free play due to a defensive offside penalty.

Nabers had two catches for 20 yards on three targets to that point in the game. In four games this season, Nabers totaled 18 receptions for 271 yards, including 167 and two touchdowns against the Cowboys in Week 2. Nabers made the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2024 after breaking the franchise's single-season reception record.

Now the Giants will look to fill the void left by Nabers, whose 10.8 targets per game lead the league since the start of 2024.

Wan'Dale Robinson is tied with Nabers for the team lead in receptions and ranks second with 237 receiving yards. Darius Slayton is next with 135 yards and needs 64 more to surpass Sterling Shepard for 16th on the franchise's all-time list.

Meanwhile, Jalin Hyatt played 29 snaps on Sunday after lining up for just six in the first three games combined.

"They wouldn't be here if they weren't [ready]," Daboll said. "So, we have obviously a lot of confidence in the three guys that we have. Malik goes down and we have confidence in the guys that are behind them. Whether it's Beaux [Collins], whether it's Hyatt, Gunner [Olszewski] knows multiple roles. We have some guys on the practice squad that we like. So, we'll get ready to play with the guys that we have and I'm confident in all those guys."

Matt Citak: When the Giants used the third overall pick on Abdul Carter, adding him to an edge rusher group that already consisted of Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, they likely pictured a lot of games looking like Sunday's win over the Chargers. The three outside linebackers recorded 12 quarterback hits, led by Carter's five, while Burns and Thibodeaux picked up one sack apiece. As a team, the Giants pressured Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on 47.7 percent of his drop-backs, led by 20 total pressures from Carter (eight), Burns (six) and Thibodaux (six). Herbert, who has been playing at an MVP level to start the season, completed only five of 19 passes for 80 yards, one touchdown and one interception when pressured. Pro Football Focus named Carter their Rookie of the Week for his performance in the win.

One notable name is missing from the above paragraph. Of course, I'm referring to defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence. While the 6-foot-4, 340-pound lineman had just one pressure against the Chargers, he was still able to make an impact in a big way. Lawrence was able to tip a Herbert pass up to himself and corral it for his first career interception, which he returned 37 yards to set the Giants up near the goal line. He reached a top speed of 17.35 miles per hour on the return, an impressive speed for a man that size. Cornerback Dru Phillips had the other interception of Herbert, which he too was able to return the other way, this time for 56 yards. Two plays later, Jaxson Dart threw the first touchdown pass of his NFL career. It was a strong bounce-back performance from Phillips, who struggled in last week's loss to the Chiefs. The second-year corner recorded four passes defensed in Week 4 and now leads the league with eight on the season entering Monday night. He was targeted in coverage seven times total and allowed just two receptions for 10 yards.

Through their first three games, the Chargers averaged 23.3 points and 22 first downs per game while converting on 19 of 41 third-down attempts (46.3 percent). Those numbers dropped to 18 points, 17 first downs and four of 12 third-down conversions (33.3 percent) against the Giants defense in Week 4. The defense stepped up in a big way against the Chargers, which played a crucial role in the team picking up its first win of the season.