MUNICH — New York Giants co-owner John Mara gave coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen a vote of confidence on Oct. 24. That was three losses ago during a season that hit rock bottom with a 20-17 overtime loss to the lowly Carolina Panthers on Sunday in front of an international audience.
That public vow from Mara that “we are not making any changes this season” might be the only thing preventing the seats of Daboll and Schoen from reaching a five-alarm blaze. There’s very recent precedence for a loss to the Panthers serving as the final straw for a coach: The New Orleans Saints fired Dennis Allen last week, a day after a 23-22 loss to Carolina.
Like Daboll, Allen was hired in 2022. Allen had an 18-25 record in two-plus seasons in New Orleans. Daboll’s record dropped to 17-26-1 with Sunday’s ugly loss.
GO DEEPER
Panthers stave off Giants with 20-17 OT victory in Germany: Takeaways
Mara left himself some wiggle room with his support of the regime that got off to such a promising start in its first season.
“I do not anticipate making any changes in the offseason either,” Mara said.
Mara likely also did not anticipate losing the Giants’ first game in Germany to the dysfunctional Panthers, who are on their third full-time head coach in the past three seasons.
Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch had a lengthy flight across the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday to contemplate the future of the franchise. The question they must wrestle with is why they should entrust Daboll and Schoen to steer out of the hole they’ve driven the organization into.
Mara loathes that he’s been stuck in a cycle of replacing coaches and general managers regularly. But the case for retaining Daboll and Schoen must be stronger than just not wanting to abruptly fire another regime.
It’s difficult to identify what this regime does well. Since catching lightning in a bottle with a 7-2 start to their first season, the Giants have gone 10-24-1. That’s tied for the third-most losses in the league over that stretch.
Daboll was hired for his offensive prowess, and he took over play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Mike Kafka after the Giants averaged 15.6 points per game to finish 30th in scoring last season. The Giants are again averaging 15.6 points this season, inching ahead of the Miami Dolphins, who play Monday night, to move out of last in the league.
And unlike last season, there’s no excuse about quarterback injuries. Daniel Jones, the quarterback this regime gave a four-year, $160 million extension to after the 2022 season, has been at the helm for every gruesome loss this season.
Sunday’s offensive output was particularly pathetic. The Panthers entered allowing 32.6 points per game. That was the worst in the league by a large margin — the difference between Carolina’s scoring average and the 31st defense was the same as the difference between No. 31 and the 18th scoring defense.
The Giants were shut out in a first half that featured a missed 43-yard field goal by Graham Gano and an interception in the red zone when a rolling Jones threw a pass that deflected off the helmet of outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney and into the arms of safety Xavier Woods.
