Rotten Apple
Giants’ ineptitude in disgusting NY clash puts Daboll under microscope while Jets’ Saleh breathes huge sigh of relief
CBS should have televised the Jets’ 13-10 overtime win over the Giants in black and white.
Sunday’s gray and rainy eyesore was an ugly throwback to a time before the forward pass.
Brian Daboll’s Giants had -9 net yards passing, the lowest total in franchise history and the worst by any NFL team since the 2000 Cleveland Browns, per ESPN Stats & Info.
The Jets and Giants combined for 24 punts and 4-for-34 on third downs. Robert Saleh’s undisciplined Jets handed the Giants five of their 12 first downs via penalties.
“It was a series of sloppy ball all the way around,” Saleh said. “But they never ask how. They ask how many.”
There is no better homage to the sorry state of New York football than what transpired here at Metlife Stadium.
The Jets, who lost Aaron Rodgers to a torn Achilles on the fourth snap of the season, ended up on their fourth string center Sunday. Zach Wilson was openly showing frustration with receivers, and personal fouls were coming out of their over-aggressive defense’s ears.
Daboll’s Giants, meanwhile, had undrafted rookie Tommy Devito at quarterback, Sunday starter Tyrod Taylor in the hospital with a ribs injury, and Daniel Jones on the sideline with a newly revealed “disc” issue in his neck, per a leak to NFL Network.
So the Giants called 52 runs to 14 passes, played not to lose and lost.
“Everyone in the stadium knew we were gonna run the ball,” said Saquon Barkley, who hit a new career-high 36 carries for 128 yards.
The ramifications of this result, even though both teams deserved to lose, could be felt immediately at Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline.
The Giants’ season is over at 2-6. Daboll said Barkley isn’t getting traded, but it would be silly for Joe Schoen not to at least take those calls. Leonard Williams, Parris Campbell, Adoree Jackson and Xavier Mckinney all are names to watch, too.
Williams should be attractive to a contender like the San Francisco 49ers with salary cap space seeking pass rush reinforcement. And draft capital could help Schoen’s long-term cause.
Greater consequences, however, lurked around the corner of a loss in this rivalry game for the leaderships of both these franchises. And the bigger question now is what kind of extra pressure this defeat puts on Schoen and Daboll.
Consider: Daboll took over the Giants’ offensive meetings last week before the team’s win over Washington. And about 10 days later, with a healthy Barkley in the lineup, his Giants had fewer passing yards than any NFL team in the last 23 years — fewer than Mike Glennon’s -6 for Joe Judge’s Giants at Chicago in 2021.
More importantly, Daboll was supposed to be the X-factor that gave the Giants an edge. But his situational management on Sunday helped hand the Jets the game.
The Giants had a 99.7% chance to win with 28 seconds remaining and a 4th & 1 at the Jets’ 17-yard line. And instead of going for it to get a first down and end the game, Daboll chose to kick a field goal with Graham Gano, who eventually will need surgery to fix the problem in his left knee, per Northjersey.com.
Gano hooked his second miss of the day. Kayvon Thibodeaux (three sacks, forced fumble) jumped offsides, emboldening the Jets’ Wilson to fire a deep completion to Garrett Wilson. That penalty also stopped the clock, setting up an Allen Lazard catch and a game-tying Greg Zuerlein field goal as time expired.
And the Giants gifted a third straight win in the head-to-head series to their ‘little brother.’
“Look, I made the decision I thought was the best for the team; it didn’t work out,” a discouraged Daboll said. “I take responsibility, but I thought it was the best for the team.”
Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, asked if he wished Daboll had gone for the fourth down, said: “I thought we would. But we got one of the better kickers in the league, so I’ll trust that and take that choice too.”
Daboll had curiously kicked a field goal on 4th and 1 from the Jets’ 29 in the second quarter, too, which Gano also missed.