3 ways Brian Daboll can earn back Giants fans' trust after disastrous season

After firing three head coaches in six years, the New York Giants finally thought they had found their guy when Brian Daboll took Big Blue to the playoffs in his first season in 2022 and even won a playoff game. Since then, however, New York has regressed, stringing together back-to-back double-digit loss seasons, with the 2024 season being miserable, to say the least.

Daboll's third season as the Giants' head coach has not been one to look back on fondly, as the G-Men are in the middle of a seven-game losing streak—their longest since 2019—with the offense under his play-calling ranked at the bottom of the league in scoring. It's been an ugly season for the Giants and Daboll, and if the third-year head coach wants to regain the trust of fans, these are the three things he needs to start doing:

3 ways Brian Daboll can earn back New York Giants fans' trust

3. Quit relying on analytics

When Daboll assumed play-calling duties for the Giants this season, he aimed to get creative after two lackluster offensive performances under offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. However, in Daboll's case, he may have gotten a little too creative by leaning heavily on something that has taken over the game of football—analytics. Enough is enough with that, Brian Daboll.

Analytics are a useful tool for winning football games. For example, if you're down by 14 points late in a game and score a touchdown, going for two to make it a six-point game instead of seven is statistically advantageous. While that may be true, if you've met the Giants' offense, you know scoring a touchdown is hard enough as it is. That’s why Daboll needs to stop relying on analytics and start simplifying the game.

On two-point tries this season, Big Blue has gone 0-for-6, including one attempt in a Week 8 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers that was so poorly executed it became a laughingstock.

Daboll needs to stop listening to analytics and recognize the limitations of an offense already struggling to put points on the board. It’s safe to say his seat is very hot right now, and if he wants Giants fans back on his side, it’s time to quit following the numbers and get back to the basics.

2. Compete in the NFC East

When you don't win against your division foes, you aren't expected to make it to the playoffs, let alone win many games. That's been the case for the Giants this season. After dropping their eighth straight game to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, they’re now 0-5 this season against their rivals. Under Daboll, the Giants have not performed well against the NFC East, which is something he and the Giants must fix if he wants fans to trust him again.

Since becoming the head coach, Daboll and the Giants have gone 4-13-1 against the NFC East, including their blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round of the playoffs in January 2023. Against the Cowboys and Eagles combined over those three-plus seasons, the Giants have gone a woeful 1-13 and are just 3-2-1 against the Washington Commanders. With the Giants scheduled to finish off their season at Philly—a place where they haven’t won since 2013—they are more than likely to go winless against the NFC East in 2024.

This never used to be the case for the Giants—not only did they lose to their rivals, but they also lost to them badly and convincingly. Something has to give. Daboll must prove he and the Giants can compete against their rivals, especially with all three teams around them on the rise.

1. Draft (and properly develop) Shedeur Sanders

With Daniel Jones no longer a New York Giant and their current quarterback room consists of Tommy DeVito and Drew Lock, Big Blue will undoubtedly be looking to select a quarterback in the first round as they’re slated to have a high draft pick. Daboll knows what he has to do if he wants Giants fans to trust him again: draft Shedeur Sanders.

The process of potentially drafting the Colorado Buffaloes signal-caller may not follow the usual path, especially with his head coach and father, Deion Sanders, expected to play a significant role in where he’s selected (we’ve all seen this before). Still, Daboll and the Giants must find a way to land him. Sanders, a potential finalist for the Heisman, has been nothing short of spectacular at Colorado. After passing for over 3,200 yards in 2023 with 27 touchdowns and just three interceptions, he followed that up with an even better season, throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and a career-high 35 touchdowns to eight interceptions.

His stellar second season has even put Colorado in position to potentially make the College Football Playoff. The Giants and their fans are desperate for a quarterback like Sanders to arrive in New York after six difficult seasons with Daniel Jones at the helm.

Do it, Brian Daboll. Convince Shedeur and his father this is the right place to succeed in the NFL.

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