EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — This wasn’t Joe Judge’s infamous 11-minute rant late in the 2021 season. But as far as a Brian Daboll news conference goes, the New York Giants coach was exceptionally expansive after his team snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 45-33 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
Daboll, who typically mutters his way through monosyllabic answers after games, raved about the character and work ethic of his team Sunday. Much like Judge’s epic rant three years ago, it appeared Daboll’s message was intended for the ears of ownership, who will decide his fate after next week’s season finale.
“I’ve had a lot of confidence in the people in our building and the way they operate,” Daboll said. “Not the results, obviously, but coming back from injuries that are pretty good injuries, and they fight back to perform at the end of the year. I’ve been on some other teams — it’s a credit to the coaches, battling through it with the players who are injured, who come back, who compete, who work hard every day, are in early and have extra meetings in December when you don’t have a very good record.”
Judge’s impassioned soliloquy backfired, and he was fired 10 days later after going 4-13 in his second season. Daboll avoided going off the rails like Judge, but it remains to be seen if ownership will hear his message about keeping the team fighting to produce a result like Sunday when an offensive explosion prevented the Giants’ first winless season at home in 50 years.
There was no tell from John Mara after the game, as he continued his weekly ritual of declining comment when approached by reporters. But Mara made it clear in October that he doesn’t want to clean house again, so Daboll needs to take advantage of every opportunity to convince his boss of the value of continuity.
“There’s a process that we believe in, and they keep fighting through it,” Daboll said. “I’m just happy that they can have a smile on their face and get a win. I’m proud of the guys. I was proud of them in some of those games where we lost. We just got to keep battling through it.”
A theme of Daboll’s news conference was the importance of “good quarterback play.” Daboll got hired three years ago largely based on his efforts grooming Bills quarterback Josh Allen from a raw prospect into a perennial MVP candidate.
Daboll won the NFL Coach of the Year award in his first season in New York after coaxing a career-best season out of Daniel Jones. That magic touch disappeared after the Giants committed to Jones with a four-year, $160 million contract. Jones was released in November after two dismal seasons.
Backups Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito and Tim Boyle were even worse, contributing to the Giants’ ranking last in the league in scoring with Daboll as the offensive play caller this season. But that changed Sunday when Lock completed 17-of-23 passes for 309 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Lock added a rushing touchdown as the Giants scored their most points since 2015.
“I think if you get good quarterback play, you have an opportunity in every game,” Daboll said.
Drew Lock runs it in
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/5m2v3z0zWd
— New York Giants (@Giants) December 29, 2024
Daboll’s comments about the need for better quarterback play came at the same time as reports emphasizing that the coach and general manager Joe Schoen aren’t a package deal. That’s an interesting wrinkle, as the GM’s job security appears more stable despite the Giants assembling a dreadful quarterback room in a make-or-break season for Daboll.
Ironically, Lock’s performance hindered Daboll’s chances of getting a top quarterback in the draft if he returns for a fourth season. The Giants would have been assured of the No. 1 pick if they lost their final two games, giving them their choice between top quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward in the draft.
GO DEEPER
Patriots in control of 2025 NFL Draft No. 1 pick after Giants’ win
The win pushed the Giants to the fourth spot in the draft order with one week remaining. It will be trickier to land a quarterback from that spot, but Daboll can only focus on the present.
“That’s how the offense needs to perform,” Daboll said. “That’s how the quarterback needs to perform. So when you do that and you win the turnover ratio, you have a chance to score points and win.”
Daboll can’t be absolved from the poor quarterback play, however. It’s a stain on his reputation as a supposed quarterback whisperer that it took until Week 17 for his team to score more than 30 points.
“It’s not an easy position to play,” Daboll said. “Look, we all got to do better. You can put that on me.”
The 3-13 Giants have one game remaining against the Eagles, who have nothing to play for in the finale after clinching the NFC East title and the NFC’s No. 2 seed. The result of that game, which will likely be played against Philadelphia’s backups, shouldn’t impact ownership’s decision on the futures of Daboll and Schoen. But it could only help Daboll if he’s able to deliver another strong performance before ownership convenes to make the call on his fate. And he made sure Sunday that it’s known that he sees promising signs despite the dismal record.
“I see these coaches every day come in and are consistent,” Daboll said. “It’s hard to be consistent in an inconsistent league when things go — it’s not great. We haven’t had a good record. I firmly acknowledge that, and I accept responsibility for that. But their commitment to doing things the right way, day in and day out, staying late and putting together plans, much like the players when we’re down and we got two wins — we have the right kind of people.”
Here are more takeaways from Sunday’s win:
No quit
Sunday’s outcome should dismiss any notion that the Giants were tanking during their 10-game losing streak. The Giants were just that bad.
The reality is it’s hard for an NFL team to lose every week despite the Giants making it look easy at times this season. A performance like Sunday was inevitable. At some point, a player as talented as rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers was going to have a breakout like his seven catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
Nabers was in the lineup despite what Daboll called a “pretty good” toe injury that had him listed as questionable. Nabers is intensely competitive and also has individual accomplishments to chase. He has 104 catches and 1,140 yards this season after Sunday’s monster performance.
Outside linebacker Brian Burns has been banged up all season, but he continued to play hard Sunday. He tallied three tackles for a loss and pressured Colts quarterback Joe Flacco into a game-sealing interception by cornerback Dru Phillips.
INT for the rook!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/Yzs0eESBpF
— New York Giants (@Giants) December 29, 2024
Burns’ hustle was evidenced when he chased Colts running back Jonathan Taylor all the way across the field on a third-and-1 pitch at the Giants’ 23-yard line midway through the third quarter. Burns’ pursuit caused Taylor to go out of bounds for no gain. The Giants stuffed Taylor on the next play for a pivotal turnover on downs.
It was the type of effort that confirmed that players will never be involved in tanking for a draft pick.
“This isn’t basketball; it’s not golf; it’s not tennis — in football, you get hit. I’m not going to go out there and just let people tee off on me just to tank,” said wide receiver Darius Slayton, who caught a 32-yard touchdown pass Sunday. “At the end of the day, we’re always trying to win. I think today showed that fight.”
Though players and coaches are going to give their full effort each week, the ramifications of Sunday’s win can’t be ignored. The Giants’ three wins with DeVito last season cost them the opportunity to draft Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye.
It’s debatable if Sanders and Ward are in the same tier as those quarterbacks, but the prospect of the No. 1 pick had been the light at the end of the tunnel during this miserable season. Just don’t expect players to share fans’ anguish over Sunday’s win damaging the team’s draft position.
“I don’t believe in (tanking) at all,” tackle Jermaine Eluemunor said. “I get that when you have a losing season the best thing to do, in the fans’ eyes, is just to keep losing so you can get draft position. But then you start to create a culture of losing, and that’s not what you want to do. That’s why you have a GM. You have all those assistants, and you have all those scouts to get yourself in position to get who you want in the draft.”
Good Nabers
Look on the bright side of potentially missing out on a top quarterback prospect: Nabers may be so talented that he doesn’t need an elite QB. The No. 6 pick in this year’s draft had his best game as a pro Sunday, flashing the yards-after-catch ability that made him a star at LSU.
Nabers did most of the work on his two touchdowns. He took a screen from Lock in the first quarter and broke a tackle to race for a 31-yard score. The Giants oddly didn’t target Nabers on their first three possessions of the second half, but they wisely got him involved early in the fourth quarter. Nabers caught a simple curl route, split two defenders and outran everyone for a 59-yard touchdown.
LEEEEK 59-yard TD
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/TLYk5pUqdX
— New York Giants (@Giants) December 29, 2024
Nabers added a leaping 34-yard grab on an underthrown fade and a precision 19-yard catch on a back-shoulder fade that set up Lock’s 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“What a beast,” Lock said. “He’s going to be great for a really long time.”
Fellow rookie running back Tyrone Tracy contributed to the explosive attack, breaking a 40-yard run in the first quarter behind quality blocking. It was tough sledding for the rest of the day for Tracy, who finished with 20 carries for 59 yards.
Tracy increased his rushing total to 780 yards and his receiving total to 277 yards. That gives him 1,057 yards from scrimmage, making Tracy and Nabers the third rookie teammates to gain 1,000 yards from scrimmage in NFL history.
Grounded
Cloudy weather spared Mara the embarrassment of planes flying over the stadium bearing messages about the state of the franchise for the third straight home game. Disgusted fans reportedly had ordered three different banners, including one that would have carried a message imploring Mara to “clean house or sell the team.” The planes were grounded Sunday, but it’s a good bet they’ll be flying in Philadelphia next week if weather permits.
(Photo: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)