A year ago, the New York Giants made headlines for their passive, conservative offense that was essentially nonfunctional. That was highlighted by back-to-back quarterback sneaks to clear room for the punter in a Week 18 loss to the Washington Commanders.
Now, under the leadership of first-year head coach Brian Daboll, that approach has changed. Dramatically.
After rallying from 13 points down and scoring a potential game-tying touchdown with 1:06 remaining on Sunday afternoon, the Giants said to heck with a tie and overtime. Instead, Daboll called a gutsy two-point conversion to give his team a thrilling upset victory over the Tennessee Titans.
By comparison, the team’s last two regular season games were night and day.
“Going for the win. We’re going to be aggressive,” Daboll explained of his decision after the game. “That’s what we want to do. That’s the mindset I want the players to have. If it didn’t work, I could (live) with it. I thought that was the right decision. You’re an inch away or whatever it was. I trust Saquon (Barkley).
“I went up to some of the offensive guys that weren’t out there too and I said, ‘Hey,’ we got the ball, wherever it was. I said, ‘If we score, I’m going for two, you guys good with that?’ And they said, ‘F-yeah.'”
The players, both offensively and defensively, didn’t flinch. They knew coming into the game that Daboll was going to be aggressive, and they were completely on board with it.
“He’s been very clear throughout training camp and throughout the week preparing for this game that he’s going to be aggressive in those situations and give us the chance to execute. So, I wasn’t surprised. I don’t think any of us were surprised by that at all,” quarterback Daniel Jones said.
“I knew that before the game even started,” wide receiver Sterling Shepard said. “He told us he wasn’t going to coach scared and that’s exactly what he did. I mean, we all knew it. We knew we were going to go for it because he told us last night. He said, “I am not going to coach scared,” and I believe everything the man says.”
Saquon Barkley, who caught the shovel pass from Jones and carved his way into the endzone, was an especially big fan of the decision to go for two. From his perspective, it was more about Daboll staying true to his word and having trust in his players.
“He gave me that look, and I knew what the play was going to be. He gave me that look and I kind of looked back at him and said, ‘F-yeah.’ We called it up and we were able to execute the play and get in,” Barkley said. “He’s a man of his word. He told us he’s going to be aggressive. He told us he’s going to lean on the players to make plays. In that situation, he did exactly that. When you have a coach like that, it’s definitely going to make you go out there and fight for him and execute in those situations.”
In the mind of left tackle Andrew Thomas, a man of few words, the Giants simply had to have it.
“We got to have it. Whatever the playcall is, we have got to do whatever we go to do to win. Coach (Daboll) said he is going to be aggressive,” Thomas said.
Aggressive Daboll was. And it paid off in a big, culture-changing way. It also helped erased any lingering memory of what was just eight months ago.
