The New York Giants have been one of the biggest pleasant surprises so far this season. They came into the year without much hype and that’s all changed with every win.
Brian Daboll is in the coach of the year conversation and for good reason. At 5-1 the Giants already have more wins than they did all of last season. In fact, five wins is more than they had in 2017 and 2019 as well.
Jason La Canfora of the Audacy Original Podcast “In The Huddle” had high praise for Daboll and the Giants after another impressive win.
“It’s Brian Daboll. It’s Kafka, the offensive coordinator. It’s Martindale, the defensive coordinator. It’s the totality of that staff,” La Canfora said (4:55 in player above). “It’s Brian Daboll not trying to tell you how smart he is, not trying to reprove that I’m a great play-caller. We already know that. We know that you can do that, but you know what? I’m going to let Kafka do that because game management is tough and five of their six games have been one-score games.”
The Giants have been able to win some very close games thanks to Daboll and his staff. Their five wins have come by a combined 21 points with the widest margin of victory at eight in the 20-12 win against Chicago.
“They’ve been behind by double digits at the half against Green Bay, entering the fourth quarter against Baltimore, and they make adjustments. They get better as the game goes on. They figure out what’s working and what’s not working,” La Canfora continued. “They’re top three in the league, I think, in offensive EPA in the second half and they’re 11th in the league in defensive EPA in the second half.”
Nobody really expected the Giants to do too much this season but week after week New York continues to win games. And they’re doing it without a full complement of players.
“They are adapting to situations and putting their players – with a limited roster – in positions to succeed and it’s not a fluke. It’s not happenstance. They’re getting the job done,” La Canfora said. “Daboll has constructed his coaching staff in a way that he can focus on in-game management and what decisions at a macro level help us win this contest. Daniel Jones is completing 70% of his passes. He looks really good because he has good coaching.”
Daboll and his staff have the Giants out to a 5-1 start with a few winnable games coming up against the Jaguars and Seahawks. This isn’t even Daboll’s hand-picked roster, either, he’s winning with what he’s got.
“The Giants have a real good thing going and it’s not even their players yet,” La Canfora said. “It’s the leftovers from the Gettleman regime and they’re winning, and they’re coming back on people despite having no wide receivers.”
The Giants will look to keep up their hot start on Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville against the 2-4 Jaguars.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram