EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — At first glance, it seemed like a coverage bust.
How else could New York Giants receiver Malik Nabers be that open?
But the bird’s eye view of the Dallas Cowboys’ 20-15 win over the Giants showed otherwise.
Cornerback Andrew Booth hadn’t forgotten the sixth overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. As Nabers flashed his sudden change-of-direction on the Giants’ first drive of the game, Booth instead lost his man.
The Giants advanced the ball 39 yards on Nabers’ first target.
Thursday night, Nabers caught 12 of 15 targets for 115 yards during the first prime-time game of his career. He exited the game with 3:30 to play after suffering a concussion, but his production until then sent a clear message to Giants fans about his potential as soon as he returns, and likely for a long time with this franchise.
For a franchise still reeling from the in-division loss of top playmaker Saquon Barkley, Nabers’ ability to help the Giants contend with the Cowboys for the first time in years gave the franchise hope.
Sure, they want to finish these games and aren’t taking moral victories. But when they think about the recipe to finishing these games, their No. 1 ingredient is the player wearing No. 1. Count Nabers among the top reasons why head coach Brian Daboll told his players they should be “disappointed but not discouraged” by this loss.
“He’s a playmaker,” Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis said from the postgame locker room. “He’s going to get the ball, man. He’s really good. Kind of reminds me of [Cincinnati Bengals receiver] Ja’Marr Chase. I mean, him coming in and doing what he’s doing is amazing and they have a really good scheme for him.
“He’s gonna be a problem for a long time.”
How Nabers torched Cowboys DBs, kept Giants in game
The Giants were not subtle about their interest in first-round quarterback prospects this offseason.
The franchise brought in top prospects for visits and interviewed them extensively. An offseason edition of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” docuseries showed several conversations between team decision makers detailing their concern that the quarterback they selected with their last sixth overall pick, Daniel Jones, was not their future.
When three quarterbacks left the board before the Giants were on the clock in April, the Giants chose not to be one of six teams to draft a quarterback in Round 1, instead selecting Nabers as the second receiver of the class.
Thursday night showed why.
Whether he’s elevating Jones or creating magic with the 2019 pick’s successor, Nabers has helped the Giants’ passing game look more functional than it has in some time.
He energized the group’s first drive with the 39-yard grab down the left sideline on third-and-4 to extend the drive that got the Giants on the board first, the team’s longest completion of the season.
Nabers managed just 3 yards on a third down early in the second quarter but 10 on another third-down as he moved chains for the second of five times on the night including a fourth-and-3 grab.
That fourth-quarter crossing route helped the Giants narrow their deficit to 17-15 in the fourth quarter, the closest they’d been since the first quarter.
Might the game’s outcome have differed if Nabers was healthy enough for the last drive?
The attention the rookie is commanding also paved the way for fellow receiver Wan’Dale Robinson to catch 11 of 14 targets for 71 yards, the fourth highest output in 25 career games.
The Giants leveraged motion heavily to jumpstart Nabers, his nine receptions in motion the most by a player in a game since Next Gen Stats began tracking the metric in 2018.
Even if opponents figure out that formula, Nabers’ athleticism and football IQ may be able to power success.
He’s already caught 35 passes for 386 yards and three touchdowns in just four career games.
The Giants trust Nabers to create plays in space and break tackles once the balls is in his hands. They targeted him on fourth-and-6 with 3:30 to play in the game, Nabers getting his feet in on a toe-tapper but not quite securing the ball on his way down.
The nearly game-changing play showed the Giants how close they could be to a different result. It put the Cowboys on alert, too.
“He’s strong and he can run,” Lewis said. “This is our first action against him — and he’s definitely legit.”