The New York Giantsfired head coach Brian Daboll on Monday after a 2-8 start to the 2025 NFL season and a string of fourth-quarter collapses that left ownership exhausted and fans demanding change.
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka was named the interim head coach while GM Joe Schoen remains in place and will lead the search for Daboll's permanent replacement.
On ESPN's Monday pregame show, analyst Dan Orlovsky made his stance clear, arguing it could be a mistake to pull Daboll given the rapport he was building with rookie QB Jaxson Dart and the roster's injury losses.
“I’m of the belief this is a mistake by the New York Giants,” Orlovsky said. “It was clear that the quarterback and head coach had something going together. The fourth-quarter leads are obviously something that you’re sitting there and killing yourself over, (but) this team lost its best player (Malik Nabers), and then they lost probably their second or third best, certainly offensive weapon in Cam Skattebo. The fact that they had built these leads should warrant something.”
“And the reality is this defense that’s got a gajillion dollars or early draft picks had 10-point fourth quarter leads four different times this year, and they couldn’t find ways to secure the lead either. And so, as much as we want to sit there and say Daboll didn’t get it done, a lot of the highly prized defensive talent didn’t get it done as well.”
“I think that Brian Daboll and Jaxson Dart should have stayed together for at least another year,” Orlovsky added.
New York is now at the bottom of the NFC rankings after Sunday’s 24-20 loss to the Chicago Bears, scoring 21.7 points per game (24th in the NFL) while allowing 27.3 per game (sixth-most).
Dart has flashed (1,417 passing yards, 317 rushing yards, and 17 total touchdowns across seven starts) but has also been banged up; he left Sunday's loss in Chicago with a head injury and is listed as questionable with a concussion.
The Giants have also dealt with several other injuries through the first half of the year, including to Pro Bowl wide receiver Malik Nabers (tore his ACL in Week 4) and rookie running back Cam Skattebo (suffered a dislocated right ankle in Week 8).
The more damning trend, and the cause of Daboll's dismissal, was the team's inability to close games.
New York surrendered multiple double-digit fourth-quarter leads this season - a cascading pattern that included a collapse in Denver and the latest loss to the Bears in Week 10.
Looking ahead, New York returns to MetLife Stadium next Sunday (Week 11) to face the Green Bay Packers, followed by road trips to Detroit (Week 12) and New England (Week 13) before a Week 14 bye.
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