Giants stun Packers, take another bold step forward under Brian Daboll

By Ralph Vacchiano
FOX Sports NFC East Writer

It hasn’t even been a year since the signature moment of the Joe Judge era — when he called those infamous, back-to-back quarterback sneaks on second-and-11 and third-and-9 late in the first half of the season finale. 

Judge’s New York Giants were backed up against their own end zone, but only down 6-0. Yet he gave up on his players. He decided they were too undermanned to do anything right.

Can anyone imagine Brian Daboll ever doing anything like that?

If there’s one thing Daboll has proven during his first five games as the coach of the Giants, it’s that he believes in the players he has, even if no one else does. He doesn’t care if they seem overmatched, or if injuries have robbed them of too many starters.

He has them believing that somehow, some way, he will help them find a way to win.

“We’re a resilient group,” safety Julian Love said. “The guys who are out there today are tough players. They’re crafty. They were resilient the whole time.”

“We’re a group of gritty guys,” Saquon Barkley added. “That’s all I can say.”

The proof of all that came Sunday in London, where Daboll’s Giants made a statement with a shocking, 27-22 victory over the Green Bay Packers. The Giants went into the game with a quarterback hobbled by a sprained ankle, two starting receivers who would struggle to make most NFL rosters and a rookie tight end. They even briefly lost Barkley on the game-tying touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

And yet they outscored Aaron Rodgers and the Packers 17-2 in the second half. They outgained them 338 yards to 301 for the game. 

Daniel Jones, on that bum ankle, had his first 200-yard passing game of the season (21-for-27, 217 yards). Darius Slayton came out of mothballs to catch six passes for 79 yards. Rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger scored on a double reverse. Barkley (13 carries for 70 yards) scored on a Wildcat run, one drive after hurting his shoulder.

And that’s just the offense. On defense the Giants were still playing without defensive tackle Leonard Williams and then lost cornerback Adoree’ Jackson in the second half. 

That left Rodgers staring at two cornerbacks named Nick McCloud and Justin Layne, yet the future Hall of Famer still only went 7-for-15 for 75 yards in the second half when the Packers gained just 101 yards.

How?

“Don’t flinch when something bad happens,” Daboll said. “We just don’t want to flinch. We want to keep playing. It’s easy to say. It’s harder to do.”

It is hard, but it becomes much easier when a team believes in its coach, and when a coach constantly shows how much he believes in his players. 

Daboll has steadfastly refused to indulge the idea that the Giants just don’t have the players, that their salary cap issues robbed them of any chance to make improvements. His whole mantra from the day he was hired was that they were simply going to do the best with whatever they have.

And just look at some of the things he and his staff did Sunday, just on the offensive side of the ball:

— They jumpstarted their offense by running Barkley out of the Wildcat, a play that went for 41 yards. He later scored the game-winning touchdown of the Wildcat formation on a two-yard outside run with 6:08 left.

— They dialed up a double-reverse, two-yard touchdown run late in the first half for Bellinger, who had the option to pass on the play. “I just told him if you can run it in, I trust your legs a little bit more than your arm,” Daboll said.

— Trailing 20-13 early in the fourth quarter, Barkley went out with a shoulder injury. So what did the Giants do? After keeping a stiff-looking Jones in the pocket all game, they turned him loose with a series of rollouts and runs. He ran for 25 yards, ended up completing seven of eight passes for 55 yards on a drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown run by third-string running back Gary Brightwell.

— With Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney out and Richie James nursing an ankle injury, the Giants featured Slayton in the passing game. That’s the same Slayton who was nearly traded in the offseason, nearly cut after camp, and had one catch so far this season. “Mental toughness,” Daboll said. “This kid had a good mindset. He made the most of his opportunities when he had an opportunity.”

What a breath of fresh air all of that is for anyone who survived the Judge/Jason Garrett era, when the coaching staff showed no creativity, no confidence in their players’ abilities to make plays. Of course, they didn’t have the personnel, Barkley was injured for most of their tenure, and they lost Jones for the final six games of last year.

But they still gave up. They never truly seemed to fight back or show any belief in their players. And it never looked like they had the ability to think and scheme their way out of their mess.

This coaching staff clearly does, and the players seem to know it. It’s built an inner confidence in the Giants that they’re better than everyone thinks — a feeling that’s risen far above all the outside noise.

“I think we’ve known we’ve got a tough competitive group, and we showed that today,” Jones said. “We’ve always had confidence in our group. We believe in ourselves.”

Maybe now, at 4-1, there will be a few more believers. It was easier to dismiss their lucky victory in Tennessee on opening day or their home wins against the awful Panthers and Bears. But the Packers enter Sunday at 3-1, a true NFC contender, and they had Rodgers on their side.

There’s nothing fluky or lucky about a win like this.

“It’s big, seeing where we came from, since I’ve been here and even before,” defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said. “It gives a lot of people confidence.”

That’s a confidence Daboll has tried to instill in them from the day he was hired. He has said all along that he believes in his players, and they’re proving him right. Maybe they’re not really this good. Maybe this bubble will burst. Maybe this season will turn into a struggle.

But Daboll has made it clear: There will be no giving up. Say whatever you want about the talent on this roster. He and his coaches are finding ways to make it all work.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.