When Chris Myarick scored his second NFL touchdown late in the fourth quarter Sunday, Giants head coach Brian Daboll made an interesting decision to go for a two-point conversion and the win, rather than a potential game-tying PAT.
Although honestly, that decision was executed in the moment, but made much, much earlier.
“When we got the ball,” Daboll said when asked when he knew he was going to go for two. “Going for the win. We're going to be aggressive. 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). When you have a guy that you have a lot of trust in, you put it in their hands.”
A decision, it seems, the team was on board with.
“I grabbed a couple of defensive players and busted their tails out there. 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,'” Daboll said.
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“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,” quarterback Daniel Jones added. “So, I wasn't surprised. I don't think any of us were surprised by that at all.”
So no, it wasn’t a decision spurred by Graham Gano missing an extra point earlier in the game, nor was the play call influenced by Barkley being in the midst of his biggest game in three seasons – instead, it was a play call that the entire offensive staff had been working on for a while, and decided to use in the big spot.
“It’s a testament to the players that are on the field, all of them, and (offensive coordinator) Mike (Kafka) and the offensive staff. They knew the play they were going to call,” Daboll said. “I asked them when there was a timeout in there as we're going for two, 'What do you like?' And we had to play that we were going to call. Again, something we practiced since training camp that hasn't always worked. But the guys knew what to do, and it was a good play designed by Mike and good execution upfront.”
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“I was on the field and I saw him put up the two sign and we kind of made eye contact. 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,’” Barkley added. “We called it up and we were able to execute the play and get in. 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.”
And as it turned out, the shovel pass was the perfect play call in that spot.
“It depends on the read key and how he's playing it. You want to stay inside of the edge there and give Saquon a chance. So, he did a great job making a play there,” Jones said. “They’re not all going to be perfect. You understand that when you practice them, but you know, luckily when you have Saquon Barkley, it works out. He had a heck of a game and was big time for us and was big time there too.”
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Daboll knew that if the decision had backfired, he likely would've been crucified by his beleaguered fan base...but that, he says, is part of the job.
"I mean, that's what you sign up for when you're a leader. Being a leader is tough. It's not easy. There's going to be plenty of times that I fail, and I understand that. But I try to prepare the best I can along with the other coaches on the staff and that's what I want out of players too," Daboll said. "You've got to be able to take the good with the bad. And there'll be plenty bad. I understand that but I just have a lot of confidence in our players."
Added Sterling Shepard on that notion: "He told us he wasn't going to coach scared and that's exactly what he did. That just shows how much trust he has in us and we appreciate that. We want to be put in those pressure situations and we got guys that really want to be in those positions to make that play. Everybody in our huddle was ready to make that play, and that is what you have to have to make it."
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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