EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — About this time two years ago, the New York Giants were finding ways to win during their first season under coach Brian Daboll.
They had a 6-1 record and everything was going right, from Saquon Barkley's 2-point conversion run for a season-opening 21-20 win over Tennessee to Julian Love, Xavier McKinney and Fabian Moreau tackling Jaguars receiver Christian Kirk at the New York 1 on the final play in a 23-17 win over Jacksonville in Week 7. If a big play was needed in 2022, the Giants made it. It hasn't happened that way in the last two seasons.
New York went 6-11 in a miserable 2023 and it fell to 2-6 on Monday night, losing 26-18 to AFC North-leading Pittsburgh. The game was similar to losses to the Commanders, Cowboys and Bengals this season. The Giants had their chances and failed.
Good teams make big plays. Bad teams don't and are frustrated — and the Giants are very frustrated right now. Giants co-owner John Mara gave Daboll a vote of confidence after his team was blown out by Philadelphia.
The Giants played hard against the Steelers and were competitive, but that's it. “I think we’ve got to do everything better,” Daboll said Tuesday. “Let’s coach better, play better, make timely plays.
It’s all-encompassing. We haven’t done that yet. So, we’re doing everything we can to do to try to do that, and we’ll continue to do that.
” The frustration was visible Monday night, whether it was quarterback Daniel Jones gesturing angr.