Postseason berth should solidify Daboll as Coach of the Year
EAST RUTHERFORD >> Brian Daboll, in all his glory, simply pumped his right fist, flung his arm toward the crowd at MetLife Stadium and shouted, “Let’s go!”
Jihad Ward and Julian Love had just dumped a Gatorade bucket over the head coach, and it was truly a moment worth soaking in.
At last, six years of torment for the Giants are over.
“It was sticky and wet,” Daboll joked after the game. “It was good excitement obviously. You work hard in this business to try to give yourself a chance to play extra innings or more games, so we have done that. We’ve put ourselves in a position to compete more than just one other game.”
This franchise stamped its first ticket to the NFL postseason since 2016 in grand style Sunday at MetLife Stadium, destroying the Colts by the score of 38-10.
So much of the credit has to go to Daboll, who many prognosticators — including yours truly — believed was inheriting a roster that was at least a season away from contending. How laughably wrong we all were.
Football is the ultimate game of chess in team sports, and Daboll has maximized his parts and devised creativity with his staff more than any other coach. He is undoubtedly the NFL Coach of the Year.
“He’s meant a lot. He’s meant a lot,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “I’ve learned a lot from him, a lot of football. I’ve grown a lot as a player, and I appreciate his support and giving me the chance to go out there and play. He’s helped me a lot, he’s helped all of us a lot. Definitely grateful for him.”
Yes, the Colts (4-11-1) appear to have mailed it in for the season. Merely beating them is nothing to write home about. But just look at how the Giants did it — how these players improved and navigated injuries throughout the season to deliver their best performance when the stakes were the highest.
The 28-point margin of victory was the franchise’s largest since winning at Washington in 2014, 45-14. And in 13 seasons at MetLife Stadium, this tied the Giants’ second-biggest home win after their 42-7 triumph against the Eagles in 2012.
Heck, the Giants hadn’t even reached 30 points since scoring 34 against the Cowboys in 2020 — a streak of 43 games that was the longest in the NFL.
The Giants easily could’ve overlooked Indianapolis, which slogged into the Meadowlands having lost five straight. Instead, they dominated the Colts in every facet from the second quarter onward.
After reaching the end zone no more than three times in any of the previous 15 games, the Giants got there five times Sunday with impressive offensive drives spanning 71, 64, 62 and 70 yards along with a 52-yard interception return touchdown by Landon Collins.
Collins’ score was oh-sofitting. As the only player on the roster to make the playoffs in New York, Collins rejoined the Giants via their practice squad Oct. 6. He played sparingly in Weeks 7 and 8 before finally getting signed to the active roster on Dec. 22 and becoming a fixture in the defense’s linebacking corps as a converted safety for the past two games.
This was number 21’s first home game this season,
and the energetic fans at MetLife rightfully gave Collins his hero’s welcome after four years away.
“It was awesome, honestly. It was awesome,” Collins said. “When I came in here, it was just like, ‘This is where I should be at it.’ It wasn’t like, ‘Aw, I’m back home.’ It was more like, ‘This is where I should be.’”
On the other side of the ball, Jones crafted one of his finest NFL performances with 177 passing yards and two touchdowns with a 79 percent completion rate, along with 11 rushes for 91 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground.
There can no longer be questions about whether Jones should be back with the team next season, assuming the finances work out in free agency. The fourth-year pro has taken a big step forward with his pocket awareness and decision-making, and he put the offense on his shoulders in
the highest-stakes game of his career.
Daboll subbed out Jones for a curtain call from the crowd with about seven minutes left in the game “because I thought he earned it,” he said, and then Jones broke down the team in the locker room.
“He’s always been a good leader from Day 1, the way he’s walked in here,” offensive lineman Nick Gates said. “He’s the first one in and the last one out. That man takes everything on his back. He always takes everything to heart. A win, loss, he puts it on his back and he puts it to his responsibility. But he’s a tremendous leader. I love that man, I’ll do anything for that guy. I’m super proud of him, I’m glad he’s finally doing well and doing what he’s doing. I always knew he had it in him.”
The Giants are now locked into the NFC’s No. 6 seed and will travel to either Minnesota or San Francisco in the first round
in two weeks.
So many of these veteran players will experience the playoffs for the first time, and there’s no doubt that the Giants have exceeded expectations more than any other team. That is why Daboll should win Coach of the Year.
“I’m very thankful and appreciative of all the players and the staff, the coaches. To see smiles on their faces, that’s the best time of the week for me is the two to three minutes after a game,” Daboll said. “Some of them have had some challenging times here, so I’m extremely happy for the players first and foremost, but the staff, the trainers and ownership and coaches. But our goal will never be just to make the playoffs. That’ll never be just our goal.”