It’s easier when you win.
It’s much harder now that the Giants are losing.
Brian Daboll is in his first season as a head coach at any level, but he didn’t have to go through what happened in Year 1 with the Giants to understand how it works. He is no rookie in NFL coaching. His words, approach, decisions and even his demeanor have seen him glorified as his team has thrived on the pitch, winning six of their first seven games. And now he is witnessing the scrutinization of his praise after failing to win in his last five games.
Daboll didn’t break character after his team was beaten 48-22 by the Eagles, and he didn’t expand on the trade work he had to do this week as the Giants prepare for Sunday’s playoff game against the Chiefs. FedEx Field.
“You’re real,” Daboll said Monday. “We lost badly. You don’t want it to happen, but it did. We have tried to promote consistency in our boardrooms and our practices. It’s easy to do when you get the results you want. The problem is when you don’t get the result you want. That’s where leadership, that’s where consistency, that’s where teamwork, that’s where everything comes in, because that’s the world we live in.
“We will be judged on results, I fully understand that. I’ve done it long enough – I’ve been on both sides of it. “The really good coaches, leaders and players I’ve been with have had that quality of stability.”
The even-keel approach will be put to the test as the Giants try to get back to what lies ahead.
It’s essentially a four-team race for two playoff spots, with the best chance to win a Giants-Commanders rematch of a 20-20 tie in Week 13 . The Chiefs are currently (7-5-). 1) The 6th seed and the Giants (7-5-1) are the 7th seed. Also in the picture are the Seahawks (7-6) and the surging Lions (6-7).
Analytics site FiveThirtyEight has the Chiefs with a 73 percent chance to make the playoffs and the Giants with a 44 percent chance. Those odds will change significantly depending on what happens this weekend. If the Giants win out, they are 85 percent to make the playoffs (Commanders drop to 34 percent). If the Chiefs win, they are 89 percent to make the playoffs, and the Giants fall to 25 percent.
Given what teams usually have to do to crash the playoff party, the Giants are lucky to have their destiny in their own hands given how bad they’ve been at executing the main foundation of any rebuilding program: winning the division. .
The Giants were blown out by the Eagles in their last chance to win an NFC East title game this season at MetLife Stadium. A week ago, the Giants failed to beat the visiting Chiefs and squandered several chances to take the lead before settling for a draw. In Week 3, the Giants lost at home to the Cowboys 23-16.
That’s it for this season, as far as home games against division rivals. The Giants finished 0-2-1 at home against the NFC East, the first time since 2018 that they have not won a divisional home game. The Giants are 0-3-1 in the NFC East with road games at Washington and Philadelphia remaining.
“We didn’t win any games,” Daboll said when asked what he learned in his first year in the NFC East. “Anytime you play teams in your own division, they always mean more.”
As long as they find a way to beat the Giants, the Giants can go 1-4-1 in their division and still make it to the postseason. Also, all four teams from the NFC East are eligible for the NFC Tournament.
“Coach Daboll always says that what we do in December is what people remember,” Andrew Thomas said.
Before any of this can be set in motion, the giants must defeat the commanders, and that means Daboll must get his mind and body right.
“We have a very young team,” he said. “We’ve got some guys that have been here for a couple of years that have had 10-plus losses, even if it’s that many years in a row. Along with the coaching staff, we have other veterans who have won. Most importantly, you’ve built a team that you’ve built to handle some of the things that come your way through OTA and training camp.”
.