This week, New York Giants co-owner John Mara committed to general manager Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll despite their second 2-5 start in as many years.
The regime Mara is hanging his hat on is 17-23-1 since taking over the club in 2022. They began by winning six of their first seven games that year and eked into the playoffs, but since that streak, their record is 11-22-1.
Most new general managers and coaches concentrate on beating the teams they need to beat to win their division. In the Giants’ case that would be the NFC East rivals: Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington.
Since Schoen and Daboll took over the Giants are 0-5 against Dallas, 1-5 (including playoffs) versus Philly, and 3-1-1 against Washington but lost their first game versus them this season with Jayden Daniels under center and Dan Quinn as the head coach.
Former NFL executive Michael Lombardi pointed out on the Pat McAfee Show this week that the Giants — Mara, Schoen, and Daboll — aren’t preparing themselves for success, which begins by winning games within the division.
“You win the division, obviously, and you get in the dance and have a home playoff game,” said McAfee. “And anything can happen from there.”
Referring to the footage aired by HBO’s Hard Knocks, Lombardi and McAfee were both shocked at how the Giants brass made their plans to build their roster for the season.
“They never said one time in the entire Hard Knocks, ‘How do we beat Philly? How do we beat Dallas?'” Lombardi said.
When they decided to trade for Carolina Panthers Pro Bowl defensive end Brian Burns, which was highlighted in the docuseries, Lombardi pointed out that the group never discussed Burns’ performance against their NFC rivals.
“That’s the stuff we (general managers) talk about and it wasn’t there,” he said. “It looks like people were doing their fantasy draft … and that’s offensive to me.”
The numbers don’t lie. In the NFL results are what counts. No one cares how smart you are or think you are. If you don’t win, you’re out.
Daboll and Schoen are safe for now but one wonders if they can’t even match last year’s win total of six this year, will Mara still feel the same?
“I think you focus on what you can control, and I’ve said this numerous times, we have a very good communication process, a good relationship,” said Daboll. “Again, nobody’s happy about the results or the record, but the communication and the process and the people, I believe in them.”
It’s sink or swim time for this latest version of the Giants front office.
