Getty Carl Banks blasted fans critical of how the Giants are winning.
Carl Banks doesn’t care what you think about how the New York Giants beat the Houston Texans in Week 10. Instead, the two-time Super Bowl winner with Big Blue has told fans to stop complaining and just be happy with the team’s surprising 7-2 start.
Banks, one of the best linebackers in Giants’ history, sent a message to the critics after Sunday’s 24-16 win. It was an ugly, gritty victory made possible by 46 rushing attempts, 35 of those by star running back Saquon Barkley.
Rather than critique the apparently conservative play calling, Banks reminded fans how most of Week 10’s winners shared a productive rushing attack.
Banks Puts Things in Perspective
Banks tweeted a clear message for anyone critical of how the Giants beat the Texans:
For all of y’all who have a problem with how the #giants won today.. take a quick look at the rushing stats around the league for the teams that won. Most rushed for 150+. Sooo yeah keep crying hungry with a loaf of bread under your arms.
His argument was supported by these numbers tweeted by Mark Reynolds:
The statistics support Banks’ contention winning teams are leaning on their running backs, but it goes deeper than any run/pass balance. What Banks is really striking at is the group of fans who see more negatives than positives in the Giants’ winning start.
To say next-to-nobody expected the Giants to make much hay this season would be an understatement. The doomsayers included Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr, who predicted the Giants would win just five games this year.
Orr’s prediction wasn’t unreasonable considering general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll took over after the wreckage of the Joe Judge era. What Schoen and Daboll found was a team that had won just 22 games during the previous five seasons. Losing had become a modern tradition, while the salary-cap situation made it difficult to bolster the talent of a generally workmanlike roster.
Those constraints make the job Schoen and Daboll have done all the more impressive. Seven victories have thrust these upstart Giants into the thick of the playoff race in the NFC.
Winning without dominating has become a happy and historic habit, according to CBS Sports:
Giants are the first team in NFL history to start 7-2 or better w/ ALL of their wins coming by 1 score
While they aren’t winning style points, the Giants are winning games. They’re doing so by playing to their strengths to produce complementary football and making players at key positions better.
Daboll Getting the Most from the Talent Available
Schoen wasn’t able to go hog-wild in free agency, with the Giants mostly sticking to low-key signings on one-year contracts. So players like wide receiver Richie James, running back Matt Breida and guard Mark Glowinski were added to a struggling offense, while Baltimore Ravens duo nose tackle Justin Ellis and edge-rusher Jihad Ward joined a solid but unspectacular defense.
Backups and journeyman were never going to transform the Giants by themselves, so Daboll and his staff have had to coach smart. It started by getting the most from the few elite talents on the roster, specifically Barkley.
He’s been transformed after two mediocre years blighted by injury:
Saquon Barkley has more rushing yards (931) this season than the:
Texans
Bengals
Chargers
Buccaneers
Rams
Barkley’s performances made it easy for Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to call his number early and often against the Texans. Yet, their latest gameplan wasn’t just about feeding an in-form player.
Instead, Daboll reiterated going run-heavy was the best way to approach the specific matchup with the Texans, per Dan Duggan of The Athletic: “We try to do what we think we can do, which was run the ball for 46 times. Each week, we just do what we think we need to do for that particular game.”
Being flexible enough to adjust schemes each week depending on the opposition is the hallmark of a successful coaching staff. Savvy coaches also know how to use different gameplans to protect certain players.
Daboll and the Giants are no different, with their Barkley-centric strategies helping to ease the pressure on quarterback Daniel Jones. The sixth player drafted in 2019 was a turnover machine, tossing 29 interceptions and losing 20 fumbles during his first three years in the NFL.
Contrast those numbers with how well Jones is protecting the football this season, per The 33rd Team:
Daniel Jones is the first #Giants quarterback to go six straight games without throwing an INT since @PhilSimmsQB in 1993
Jones is playing better because Daboll has structured the offense to make the QB more efficient. Sometimes, like against the Texans, that’s going to mean keeping the ball on the ground.
As Banks says, it’s better not to worry about how the Giants are winning and how long they can maintain it. Those are wasted emotions after so many years of losing. Better to simply enjoy this season’s unexpected ride.