Big Blue View
If you have watched the New York Giants all season, and really for the last three years, nothing that happened in Sunday’s 24-20 loss to the Chicago Bears should have been a surprise.
Did you actually think the Giants’ 17-7 third-quarter lead meant they were going to win? After the Giants found a way to blow a 19-0 lead to the Denver Broncos just four weeks ago, becoming the first NFL team with an 18-point lead and less than six minutes to play to lose a game? After the Giants blew double-digit leads to the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints?
Did you actually think the Giants were going to continue to get away with recklessly slamming rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart into opposing defenses without Dart getting hurt? Sooner or later, one of those many visits Dart has made to the medical tent was going to result in the rookie quarterback having his helmet taken away.
So, of course the Giants lost on Sunday. That was inevitable. Turning victories into losses is the thing they do best. Of course Dart got hurt. That, too, was inevitable. If the Giants were going to continue using him like Brandon Jacobs or Jerome Bettis instead of a franchise quarterback they hope to build around, a concussion — or worse — was always going to happen.
The question now isn’t whether Russell Wilson or Jameis Winston should start next Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, though that certainly is a question.
The question is whether Brian Daboll will, or should, be the one charged with making that decision.
Let’s be real. If it wasn’t clear before Sunday that Daboll shouldn’t be, can’t be, won’t be the coach to lead the Giants forward into the Jaxson Dart era, it certainly is clear now.
Does anyone really still believe Daboll is the right coach to both develop Dart and to maximize the Giants’ future with a 22-year-old quarterback who looks like the real deal?
There are a lot of reasons for the Giants to move on from Daboll.
The Giants are 2-8 this season. They are 11-33 (.250 winning percentage) since 2023. The only team with a worse record is the 10-33 Tennessee Titans — the only NFL team to fire its head coach so far this season. The Giants are 20-40-1 (.336) over the entirety of Daboll’s tenure.
The defense, which should be a strength, keeps melting down with the defensive coordinator Daboll hired and has continued to stand by. The Giants keep giving up leads in games it looks like they should win, and Daboll’s decisions always seem to be in the middle of those disasters.
There were 10 more penalties on Sunday as the Giants continued to be one of the league’s most penalized, undisciplined teams. Special teams mistakes. Game day roster management messes.
All of that falls on Daboll.
Most damning, though, had to be Dart leaving the game after three quarters with a concussion.
The Giants hired Daboll because...
