NFL Overreaction Week 10: Dolphins defeat Bills, NFC West battle heats up
USA TODAY Sports’ Prince Grimes is “overreacting” to some of the best games of Week 10 on Sunday.
- The Giants fired manager Brian Daboll on Monday, according to multiple reports.
- New York lost a 10-point lead to the Bears, 24-20, dropping their season record to 2-8.
- Daboll finished his tenure with a record of 20 wins, 40 losses, and 1 draw.
The New York Giants have reached breaking point with Brian Daboll.
The team fired its embattled head coach on Monday, a day after a 24-20 loss to the Chicago Bears with four minutes left in which New York held a 10-point lead and dropped its season record to 2-8.
Daboll finished his tenure with the team with a record of 20-40-1 in three and a half seasons. His career record is the worst of any Giants coach who led the team for at least 50 games.
Associate head coach and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will serve as interim head coach.
Why did the Giants fire Brian Daboll?
“We discussed the direction of our franchise on the field this morning and determined it was in our best interest to make a change to the head coaching position at this time,” Chairman John Mara and Chairman Steve Tisch said in a joint statement. “After the disappointing past few seasons, we didn’t expect much from this series. We understand our fans’ frustrations and are committed to delivering a much-improved product.
“We would like to thank Coach Daboll for his contributions to our organization and wish the Daboll family the best of luck in the future.”
Daboll is the second Tennessee Titans coach to be fired this season after firing Brian Callahan in October.
Giants talk about Joe Schon’s future
The Giants added that general manager Joe Schoen will remain in place and lead the search for a new head coach.
“We feel Joe has assembled a talented young core and we look forward to their development,” Mara said. “Unfortunately, the results of the past three years have not been what any of us had hoped for. We take full responsibility for those results and look forward to the kind of success our fans have come to expect.”
With the loss, New York is now 0-4 in road games in which it led by at least 10 points. Asked after the game if he was worried about his job security, Daboll said, “I’m just focused on the guys in the locker room.”
Rookie quarterback Jackson Dart left midway through the second half with a concussion. The first-round pick, who replaced Russell Wilson after the veteran started the first three games of the season, was assessed to have sustained a head injury in three regular-season games and one preseason contest, and both his style of play and the team’s planned high pitch count have come under scrutiny.
“Unfortunate,” Daboll said Sunday when asked if the hit to Dart ultimately “caught up” to the quarterback. “It’s unfortunate that he got hurt.”
How Brian Daboll’s tenure with the Giants was revealed
Daboll was named NFL Coach of the Year in his first season in 2022, leading New York to a 9-7-1 record and its only postseason berth since 2017. However, the situation was resolved fairly quickly after that. After posting a 6-11 record in 2023, running back Saquon Barkley became a free agent and was traded to the rival Philadelphia Eagles. Barkley won the Offensive Player of the Year award en route to winning Super Bowl 59.
The Giants also parted ways with quarterback Daniel Jones last season, benching him as a starter in November and then releasing him permanently. Jones signed with the Indianapolis Colts this offseason and led the team to an 8-2 record while leading the league’s highest-scoring offense.
Mara retained both Daboll and Shane after last year’s 3-14 season, but it was known that he was not happy with the franchise’s trajectory.
“We don’t want to wait too long, because we’re getting close to being at the end of our patience,” Mara said in January when discussing the timeline for a potential turnaround.
