In typical New York Giants fashion, the team is once again toying with fans’ hearts. Just one week removed from the high of their first victory of the season — a stunning upset over the Los Angeles Chargers — Week 5 delivered a harsh dose of reality in Jaxson Dart’s first career road start.
After scoring touchdowns on each of their first two offensive drives, everything unraveled from there. The offense committed five turnovers, and the Giants failed to score again, leading the Saints to prevail 26-14 for their first victory of 2025. While Dart struggled, this loss falls solely on Brian Daboll's shoulders.
Daboll came to New York heralded as a "quarterback guru" for his work with Josh Allen, but hasn't lived up to the expectations. The fanbase has already watched him fail once with Daniel Jones, who's now thriving in Indianapolis, and if the team doesn't fire him soon, he could risk stunting Dart's development even further.
Yet despite all of that noise, Daboll was nowhere to be found on Priyanshu Choudhary's Pro Football Network's post-Week 5 hot seat rankings.
Brian Daboll won't be coaching the Giants for much longer
The Giants are averaging just 17.4 points per game in 2025, and only the Raiders, Bengals, Browns, and Titans are scoring less. Moreover, the first-round rookie is only starting in hopes of saving Daboll's job, which has only aided the urgency to get rid of him.
The offensive miscues were abundant in Week 5, and most of them were self-inflicted — such as Cam Skattebo's red-zone fumble, or Dart's fumble where he just dropped the ball. A five-turnover game against a 0-4 opponent is straight-up unacceptable.
Big Blue's offensive line has been dismal ever since Daboll was hired, and he's done nothing to rectify the situation. Without Malik Nabers, the wide receiver room does nothing to inspire optimism, yet Dabs and Joe Schoen have failed to make any meaningful changes.
Coming into the game, Spencer Rattler was 0-10 as a starting quarterback, yet still managed to outperform Dart and carve up the Giants' secondary. And second-year cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry recorded the first two interceptions of his NFL career on Sunday... Yikes.
He does deserve some grace, as losing your best offensive playmaker for the season in your rookie quarterback's debut isn't easy, but sympathy only goes so far when the same mistakes keep resurfacing and nothing will end up changing.
While the offense remains a concern, the defense is the main reason Daboll needs to go. Shane Bowen's unit is near the bottom of the league in every major defensive category and the secondary has been getting torched every weekend—even after spending heavily to sign both Paulson Adebo and Jevon Holland.
Even the defensive line, which was heralded as this team's strength, has been inconsistent this season.
At this point, it’s clear: unless Daboll can immediately reverse course against the Eagles on Thursday Night Football, things might be too far gone for him to ever save his job. So, how in the world is he not on Choudhary's hot seat rankings? It feels like he should have been gone yesterday.