New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll in London vs. the Green Bay Packers

NFL

Giants Brian Daboll Just Locked up NFL Coach of the Year Award After Week 5

Giants head coach Brian Daboll has his team at 4-1 after a dramatic Week 5 win in London, which should make him NFL Coach of the Year.

by Tim Crean

Published on October 9, 2022

2 min read

Brian Daboll 2022 Coach of the Year Award

Brian Daboll | Stu Forster/Getty Images

The New York Giants have had four head coaches (three full-time and one interim) in six seasons since Tom Coughlin retired. These four men — Ben McAdoo, Steve Spagnuolo, Pat Shurmur, and Joe Judge — had a combined record of 33-64.

Brian Daboll is 4-1 through five games.

The former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator showed up in New Jersey at the end of January in a snowstorm and has quickly changed the losing culture around the Giants.

He’s done it by minimizing the team’s weaknesses at the quarterback and wide receiver positions and maximizing the team’s strengths of running and defense. After creating a high-flying, pass-heavy offense with Josh Allen and the Bills, many pundits didn’t see this coming, even though Daboll told the media this is exactly what he planned to do.

The Giants had the second-worst passing offense heading to London in Week 5 and the No. 1 rushing offense. Most importantly, though, Daboll’s team is figuring out how to win close games late.

With the win over the Packers, the Giants’ four victories have come by a total of 17 points.

There is a lot of season left to play, but after Week 5, with what Daboll’s done already, he deserves the 2022 NFL Coach of the Year Award. And the win over the Packers in London is a perfect example why.

Giants vs. Packers was a perfect example of a well-coached Giants win

The Giants and Packers traveled to London to play a Week 5 game between two (somewhat) unconvincing 3-1 teams. Neither set the world on fire in their first four games, but the records were good, and that’s what counts.

The Packers quickly went up 17-3 in the first half, and that’s when the Giants of the past six seasons would have packed it up and started planning their flight back across the pond.

Under Brian Daboll, though, that didn’t happen.

The G-Men got into the red zone and, on a 2nd-and-goal, ran an incredibly creative play to get them back in the game. Daniel Jones handed to Saquon Barkley, who lined up in the slot, and the running back handed to rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger on the double reverse. The TE then had an option to run or throw and used his legs to punch it into the end zone.

That play rejuvenated the Giants, and down 20-13 in the second half, Jones led the team on a 15-play, 91-yard, eight-minute, seven-second touchdown drive to tie the score. After a three-and-out by the Packers, Jones connected with Barkley for a 41-yard pass play that ultimately led to the winning score.

The confidence, the creativity, and the perseverance Daboll has brought to the Giants were all on display in this game, and that’s why the NFL should give him the Coach of the Year Award now.