Championship Sunday Shows Why Giants Got It Right In Going With Play-Calling Maven Daboll For Head Coach Gig
No one knows whether Brian Daboll will succeed with the Giants in his first go-round as an NFL head coach, defying the Bill Belichick-tree curse. As the Bills offensive coordinator for the last four seasons, Daboll, whom the Giants hired on Friday to replace the ousted Joe Judge, was certainly impressive in how he installed an offensive system that enabled his raw, young quarterback—Josh Allen—to develop into one of the game’s elite. However, not every so-called offensive guru can handle the step up the organizational ladder (see “Gase, Adam”).
It's not easy to go from focusing on just one side of the game to becoming the overseer of the entire operation of a football team. Daboll has never held the top job at any of his previous engagements, as he plied his way from the bottom rungs with stops at every AFC East address, including two seasons as an assistant under Eric Mangini with the Jets after winning the first three of his five Super Bowl rings as a Patriots coach. How he manages a full staff and communicates with 53 players plus a practice squad will be a mystery for a while.
Still, I believe the Giants got the process right as it relates to modern trends. All four head coaches in Sunday’s Championship Games—Andy Reid (Kansa City), Zac Taylor (Cincinnati), Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco), and Sean McVay (Los Angeles) are their team’s offensive masterminds and play-callers. Now, you can argue that all of them had their not-so-shining moments with their decisions on Sunday, but the bottom line is that these guys know how to scheme a productive attack for today’s game. The Chiefs, Bengals, and Rams all finished in the top eight in points scored per game during the regular season while the 49ers would have ranked 11th if you removed the two games rookie Trey Lance started at quarterback. And going back a week, it certainly wasn’t Daboll’s fault that the Bills (third in points scored) couldn’t hold a lead against the Chiefs inside two minutes in the Divisional Round—twice.
Everyone knew that Daboll’s resume was going to eventually lead to a head coaching gig at some point, because those who understand how to put up points are in demand. It’s also more important to maintain continuity on offense than defense, so you want to choose a leader with an offensive bent. Say the Giants went with a defense guy (or, like Judge, a special teamer)--the last thing the franchise would need would be if some new, hot-shot offensive coordinator figured out how to elevate either Daniel Jones or Rookie QB X before ditching the team for a head coaching job right when Big Blue was ready to make their big move. The Giants would then be back at square one with a play-caller who might not share the same philosophies.
I can see that happening to the Giants’ MetLife Stadium co-tenant. A year ago, the Jets hired Robert Saleh, who was previously the 49ers defensive coordinator. Mike LaFleur got off to a horrific start as Saleh’s OC, but he certainly improved as the season went along (the 4th-and-2 QB sneak bungle versus Tampa Bay notwithstanding), installing a series of innovative plays into each game’s call sheet.
Let’s see if LaFleur can build on his growth going forward first but trust me, if Jets QB Zach Wilson starts to show why he was taken No. 2 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft next season, LaFleur will be a hot name on Black Monday 2023.
With Daboll, I envision the Giants will be more attuned to the analytics in terms of throwing on early downs and fourth-down decision-making. No more wasting timeouts hoping the opponent will jump offside on fourth-and-2s and then punting from plus territories. The run game could very well incorporate Jones’ athleticism—maybe not to the same degree as Allen, but as an added wrinkle--instead of just feeding Saquon Barkley into loaded boxes. In other words, judging from Daboll’s play calls, the Giants will be going for the jugular instead of playing not to lose.
That’s what fans should want from their head coach even though not every aggressive decision will pan out. It’s what I’ve yearned for the Jets for so many years—sadly, my favorite team’s mindset is stuck in the old ways of playing the game.
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Congrats to the Bengals, who somehow managed to overcome an inconceivable loss to the Jets with Mike White making his first NFL start at quarterback in Week 8 to earn a trip to Super Bowl LVI in a thrilling comeback victory in Kansas City. Just two seasons earlier, Cincinnati was 0-11 when they embarrassed the Jets before finishing the campaign at 2-14. The ensuing Draft, they selected quarterback Joe Burrow, who, along with Taylor, believed they could turn the franchise around into a winning program in short order.
The Jets went 2-14 last season, drafted Wilson, and hired Saleh. They have a mandate to play meaningful games in December some time this decade.