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Brian Daboll isn’t going to second-guess his decision not to go for it on 4th-and-1 and potentially end the game against the New York Jets in Week 8. The New York Giants’ head coach opted instead to have Graham Gano attempt a field goal with less than a minute remaining and his team leading 10-7.
The usually automatic Gano missed for the second time. It allowed the Jets to tie the game late, then go on to win 13-10 in overtime. Daboll’s team is now 2-6 after he refused to trust running back Saquon Barkley, who rushed for 128 yards, but wasn’t given the chance to gain a single, precious yard.
Speaking after the game, Daboll offered this defiant response about the call, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan: “Hindsight. … it’s the decision we made.”
Daboll wanted to leave the Jets needing to score a touchdown against a tough Giants’ defense. That’s sound logic, but Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News cited ESPN Stats & Info noting “the Giants had a 99.7% chance to win the game before that play whether they went or kicked. Yikes.”
Daboll’s apparent misstep compounded a miserable day for the Giants. They not only lost the game, but also lost quarterback Tyrod Taylor to a rib injury, while tight end Darren Waller left the field with a hamstring problem.
Taylor’s exit prompted Daboll to lean heavily on Barkley, but not when it mattered most.
Brian Daboll Didn’t Use Saquon Barkley When Giants Needed Him Most
Barkley not getting the ball at the Jets’ 19 with 28 seconds left was a baffling call. Especially since Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka called Barkley’s number so often the rest of the day.
No. 26 carried the ball a whopping 36 times, per Dan Duggan of The Athletic. Duggan pointed out “everyone knew he was getting the ball on every play,” but that didn’t stop the Giants feeding Barkley.
The heavy workload was inevitable after Taylor returned to the locker room. His absence left third-stringer Tommy DeVito to take the reins.
DeVito, an undrafted free agent, faced an uphill battle against a rugged Jets defense. His chances weren’t helped by the fact “Giants backup QBs don’t received any first-team reps” in practice, per Raanan.
Having an untested signal-caller in the lineup reduced what the Giants could do offensively. The simplest ploy was to run Barkley as often as possible.
Daboll and Kafka leaned heavily into this approach. Raanan detailed how the Giants “called designed runs on 33 of their last 34 offensive plays” before overtime.
The one running play Daboll wouldn’t call that will haunt the Giants the most, even though Gano has tried to take one for the team.
Graham Gano Puts Defeat on Himself
Asked about his missed kicks, Gano simply said, “It’s on me,” per NorthJersey.com’s Art Stapleton. Gano also refused to make excuses: “I’m sure some people want me to come here and make excuses. I’ve got none.”
The veteran kicker taking it all on himself has done Daboll a favor. It deflects blame for a bizarre and overly cautious decision that ultimately kept the Jets hanging around.
Daboll had reasons to play it safe, but there’s rarely any reward without an element of risk. The Giants had the right player, Barkley, to roll the dice and attempt to ice the game.
Their price of failure would have been giving struggling Jets’ quarterback Zach Wilson about 50 yards to go to setup a game-tying kick for Greg Zuerlein. It was worth it for Daboll to trust Barkley and bet his on defense making another stop if needed.
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