EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Jim Harbaugh's Los Angeles Chargers are right where their coach wants them to be, winning games with plenty of things to improve on.
Now comes the perfect chance to build on that.
The Chargers are 3-0 for the first time since 2002, when they were based in San Diego, and visit the 0-3 New York Giants on Sunday. The scuffling Giants are making a quarterback change, benching Russell Wilson to start rookie Jaxson Dart, while Los Angeles is riding the wave as one of six unbeaten teams left in the NFL.
“We’ve never looked too far ahead (and) we’ve never looked back,” said Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, the only player in the league this season with multiple 300-yard passing games. “It’s going forward and making sure that we’re on our stuff because they are much better than their record indicates.”
The record indicates New York is again on track for a top-10 draft pick, if not top-five, getting outscored 83-52 with a wild overtime loss at Dallas sandwiched between offensive duds. Here comes Dart, who wants to “be a spark” — and also might be key to saving coach Brian Daboll's job.
No pressure, kid.
“I don’t really feel pressure," Dart said. “I feel like pressure is given to those who play at a high level, and the best players in the world are the ones that are kind of involved with that word ‘pressure.’ ... My focus is just trying to win one game at a time.”
Dart is from Utah and was the 25th pick out of Mississippi, but he also spent his freshman season at Southern California and sounds like he could be studying from the Chargers' school of thought. Herbert called it “truly one week at a time,” and that philosophy is not just his.
“The goal hasn’t changed,” linebacker Bud Dupree said. "The work hasn’t changed. No one’s getting complacent. ... Man, it’s a blessing to be on a team like this, with a lot of younger guys and with a belly full of hunger.”
“It’s a well-balanced team,” Daboll said. “They’ve won three division games, two by one-score games. Playing good football and it’s certainly a tough challenge, them coming over here to play.”
The Giants traded back into the first round to select Dart, seeing him as their QB of the future. Well, the future is now, after Wilson struggled and fans at the Meadowlands booed him and chanted, “We want Dart!”
After repeatedly saying Dart was being developed and Wilson was the starter until further notice, the entire plan seemed to change on a dime.
“We’ve taken steps along the way with him in a variety of ways, and I felt this was the right thing for our football team and that’s why it’s happening,” Daboll said.
Dart has gotten six snaps, handing off four times and running twice. He believes he's ready for the role.
“I’m going to support him, support everyone that’s in the offense,” No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers said. "We’ve got a job to do, and we’re going to continue to play football.”
Having previously declared Derwin James the best safety he has ever seen, Harbaugh upgraded his evaluation of the do-it-all defender following a dominant 12-tackle, one-sack showing against Denver.
“He’s the best football player I’ve ever been around,” Harbaugh said. “And when it comes to that stat line that you can’t see, there’s only one player I can compare him to, and that’s Junior Seau. … It’s not 70 good plays. It’s 70 great plays, one play at a time, from those type of players. They’re just different.”
Najee Harris is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon, and the already inconsistent LA running game is now led by rookie Omarion Hampton. The Giants' run defense is among the worst in the league, so the kinks could get worked out Sunday.
“Things like that take time to iron out," Chargers offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer said. "People like to win by running the ball or win by passing it, by land or by sea, by going to the bathroom, I want to win the game. Whatever it is, whatever it takes to win the game, that’s all that matters to us.”
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AP freelance writer Dan Greenspan in El Segundo, California, contributed to this report.
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