It was Sleepless after Seattle.
Brian Daboll did not get much rest. The same with tight end Darren Waller.
“As a playmaker I can’t just go home and go to sleep,’’ Waller said after another impact-less game, “knowing what I’ve done in this league and what I’m capable of.’’
A year ago, it was “Don’t sleep on the Giants.’’ Four games into this season, it is “I’m going to sleep, the heck with the Giants.’’
The stark and stunning downslide is the handiwork of so many but the master sculptor is always the head coach and so a dusting reveals Daboll’s fingerprints at the crime scenes the Giants left behind in East Rutherford, Glendale, Ariz., and Santa Clara, Calif. These are the same fingerprints used as evidence in 2022 to anoint Daboll, rightfully, as the NFL Coach of the Year after guiding the Giants to a record of 9-7-1 and winning the first playoff game for the franchise since the 2011 season, all accomplished in his first year as a head coach at any level.
You could sense, though, that Daboll realized the 2022 Giants came together nicely and perhaps prematurely, won a bunch of close games and thrived amid all the newness.
When Daboll repeatedly said, “Every year is a new year,’’ the idea was not merely foisted from the Coaching Cliche handbook. He knew last season’s success guaranteed nothing, as far as the Year 2 progress everyone anticipated automatically kicking in on the field.
On cue, Daboll was at it again Tuesday, the morning after the previous night’s 24-3 loss to the Seahawks that prompted cascades of jeers from the home crowd at MetLife Stadium as Seattle stormed in for 11 sacks, 10 on beleaguered Daniel Jones.
Why so bad in 2023 after so much good in 2022?
“Yeah, I would say every year is a new year,’’ Daboll said. “I’ve said that since the start of OTAs. And it is. There’s a lot of things that have to go right each game to be successful and right now we’re not there yet.’’
They are not close to the vicinity of being there yet. This is all under the purview of Daboll because it is always on the head coach.
Is it unfair to recall Ben McAdoo went 11-5 and made the playoffs in his first year (2016) as head coach of the Giants and was fired before the end of his second season? Is it in bad taste to bring up that the optimistic vibes in the building and within the fan base about Joe Judge after an encouraging debut season (2020) were torn into tatters a year later as Judge was fired the day after the 2021 season ended?
This is not to suggest the Giants are heading there with Daboll.
Still … you have to wonder about what we are all seeing here.
The mini-bye — there were 10 full days between the Week 3 and Week 4 games — figured to provide the time needed to button up some of the loose ends. And then, the Giants came out and were unable to impede a heretofore docile Seahawks pass rush, muffed a punt and committed six penalties on special teams — is that some sort of record?
So, scratch the notion that this coaching staff would excel, given all the extra time, to right the wrongs and cure the ills — although the defense was noticeably firmer, actually limiting Seattle to only 10 points off legitimate drives.
There is no look or feel of a smooth, smart operation. You want to get hot and bothered with Daboll flipping away a tablet after a disgusted sideline check-in with Jones? Have at it. More disturbing is that Daboll wanted a pass play on third-and-11 late in the third quarter and the communication with Jones was so messed up that the quarterback handed the ball off to Matt Breida and the Giants then punted the ball away.
No one sees this as a stacked team but this is over-the-top bad. The Giants’ point differential of minus-76 is the worst in the league. Whatever pixie dust Daboll spread over his players has worn off, as the Giants are 4-9-1 in their last 14 games.
“When you’re in this position you tell them what we’re not doing right, you own it, you own it as a leader, and you come back ready to go,’’ Daboll said. “Not the start that we had hoped for, we had worked for, but a long road ahead and a lot of improvement to be done.’’
The Giants are 1-3, and how undisciplined they have appeared in their three one-sided losses is what is shocking. Daboll did not expect this but he did warn about it. Now it is up to him to figure out a way to make all the lousy football go away.
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