National Football League

Brian Daboll's Giants look even more offensive in ugly loss to Seahawks

Published Oct. 3, 2023 12:18 a.m. ET

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Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Brian Daboll was hired by the Giants in part because he was considered an offensive whiz. They believed he was the man who could turn Daniel Jones into a franchise quarterback. They thought he could bring the team's offense back into this century.

Who would've ever guessed that four games into his second season, the miserable Joe Judge-Jason Garrett years would be considered the good old days?

Maybe it's not quite that bad yet, but it's getting awfully close with the way this offense is performing — or not performing. They were a disaster in their 24-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at the Meadowlands on Monday night, which isn't much different from what they've been all season long. They can't move the ball. Jones is regressing. And he's getting beaten to a pulp behind an offensive line that's crumbling before his eyes. 

And no, it doesn't help that they've been playing without running back Saquon Barkley and left tackle Andrew Thomas, but it wasn't like things were great with them either.

The Giants have put together two good quarters all season long — when they scored 31 points and gained 358 yards in the second half of their Week 2 game in Arizona.

In their other 14 quarters — three and a half games — they've gained just 650 yards and scored only 15 points.

That's not just bad and unacceptable. That's not even NFL football.

It's just an ugly mess.

"I’d say we’ve got to do a better job," Daboll said after the game. "We’re not playing well right now. We’re not coaching well right now. We’ve got to do a lot better."

It's hard to even know where to place blame because it's all just bad. Jones is obviously struggling. He completed 27 of 34 passes for just 203 yards against the Seahawks and scrambled 10 times for 66 yards while mostly running for his life. He made an awful decision on a pass intended for well-covered receiver Parris Campbell deep in Seattle territory late in the third quarter that was easily picked off by Seahawks corner Devon Witherspoon, who returned it 97 yards for a touchdown. He also threw another interception and fumbled twice.

For $160 million, no matter the circumstances, he's got to be better than that.

Don't blame it all on Jones, though. This is starting to look like the Giants' worst offensive line in a decade — which says a lot, considering how awful their lines have been the last 10 years. Jones was under pressure on nearly every play and was sacked 11 times. It might have been double that if he weren't such an elusive runner who managed to avoid trouble time and time again.

Two plays show how truly awful the line was. The first came at the end of the first half when it was still a 0-0 game. As soon as Jones dropped back, Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu came free on a blitz, completely unblocked. Jones evaded him, only to bump into left guard Shane Lemieux before getting sacked from behind by Mario Edwards Jr.

Jones fumbled, the Seahawks recovered and two plays later had a 7-0 lead.

And that, actually, wasn't the offensive line's worst moment. That came at the end of the Giants' first drive when they went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Seattle 27. They ran the Eagles' "Tush Push" play, but with a twist. They lined up three pushers in the backfield, including two offensive linemen — the 310-pound Lemieux and the 310-pound Mark Glowinski.

With running back Matt Breida back there too, they had more than 800 pounds of pushers. And they still couldn't shove Jones far enough to pick up the yard.

But it would be wrong to even blame the line for this disaster, because the coaches had their hand in it too. They traded for Darren Waller, who should be a huge weapon on quick, short passes when the quarterback is under duress, but he was targeted only once until the game was nearly over (and three times overall). They seemed to find an effective weapon in the speedy Wan'Dale Robinson, who picked up 7 yards on a reverse on the second play of the game. That was the last time he got the ball out of the backfield.

"We had a tough game — all of us," Daboll said when asked about the offensive line. "I’ve got to do a better job helping (Jones)."

There's more to this mess, too. Their special teams were a penalty-fueled nightmare. Their defensive tackling was again pathetic, especially on a 51-yard romp down the sidelines in the first half by Seattle tight end Noah Fant who ran right by Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke and cornerback Adoree' Jackson, neither of whom managed to push him out.

But it's the offense, though, that's so maddening — because it's really been a disaster all season long, and Daboll was supposed to have answers. He took over a team that averaged a pathetic 16.3 points per game in the Judge-Garrett Era. The Giants are averaging 11.5 now.

That's barely a touchdown and a field goal per game. His scheme alone was supposed to be worth more than that. And things are about to get worse — possibly much worse — because the Giants are about to go on a two-game road trip through Miami and Buffalo. Those are the two highest-scoring offenses in the NFL.

How are the Giants supposed to keep up when, if they take out that anomalous half in Arizona, they're averaging just four points per game?

They can't, which means Daboll needs to come up with some answers quickly—answers he clearly doesn't have. That's a problem since he was the guy who was supposed to be able to fix this disaster.

But right now, it just looks like a mess that no one can clean up.

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.

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