All things considered, the Giants in Year 2 of a regime change preferred to find out if their young team could handle increased success rather than wonder if it could rise from the depths of uninvited losing.
Nothing came easy or was handed to them in 2022, of course, but from the very first game of the Joe Schoen-Brian Daboll rebuild a tone of renewal and revival was established. There was that daring Daboll two-point conversion decision in Nashville and a last-second missed field goal by the Titans to pave the way to a stirring opening day victory that proved to be a sign of things to come.
From that point on, the Giants were ahead of the game. There were dips and swoons but never a moment when Schoen and Daboll — or anyone else — had to wonder about their plan and their vision. When their first season ended with a team predicted to win but a handful of games going 9-7-1 and capturing a playoff victory for the first time in 11 years, it heralded the belief that the Giants had the right people in charge.
In truth, those on the inside were wary of a course correction in 2023. They suspected that they had not craftily vaulted over the normal rebuild hurdles and did not assume it was onward and upward with no reason to anticipate a stumble or two.
And then this season opened up and all the goodwill began escaping out of the balloon.
“We started off, very good drive against Dallas there to open the season, we get a false start, a bad snap, a blocked field goal for a touchdown, and it kind of snowballed from there,” Schoen said.
From that moment on, the Giants were playing from behind. On that horrid play they saw their left tackle, Andrew Thomas, go down with a severe hamstring strain and the 40-0 loss triggered an avalanche that had the Giants at 2-8 and now 4-8 entering their bye week.
There will be no repeat Coach of the Year honor for Daboll. The flattering Schoen memes — the one of him firing lasers with his eyes, ala Homelander in “The Boys,” was especially guffaw-inducing — are no more. The Giants are not moving on from either of these guys, nor should they. Although these weekly beat-downs are unpleasant, what ownership is learning this time around is not how Schoen and Daboll can assemble a winner but how this duo holds it together amid all the losing.
“It’s easy to lead when you’re winning and you’re out front and you’re running out front, it’s easy to lead,” Schoen said. “I think as we continue to build this, it’s Year 2, going through adversity, you find out a lot about people and it’s been challenging for everybody in the building, including myself and Dabs, and how you lead when things aren’t going well, I think, is important.
“And I think Dabs has done a good job. We are starting an undrafted free agent [Tommy DeVito] the last two games and we’ve won two games. It’s not easy to keep everybody together.
“To go up in front of that team when things aren’t going well or there’s injuries, or whatever it may be, it’s not easy or you trade a veteran player [Leonard Williams] who is a leader in the locker room, that’s not easy. It’s not easy to do, so myself and Dabs as leaders within the organization are still learning as well, but through trying times I think we’ve found out a lot about the people in the building, the players on the roster and that’ll benefit us going forward.’’
Will it? Maybe yes, maybe no. Sometimes losing begets nothing more than losing. The best that can be said about the 2023 Giants is that they are the second-youngest team in the league and that Daboll and Schoen have shown no signs of panic as the season unraveled.
“What have I learned about myself? You’ve got to have a good poker face, because as bad as it eats you up inside when things aren’t going well, people are looking to you for confidence and hope that things are going to get better,’’ Schoen said. “I know that because I’ve been on the other side of it.’’
The other side of it is eerily similar. Schoen got to Buffalo in 2017 as the assistant general manager and the Bills ended a 17-year playoff-less run — with Tyrod Taylor as the starting quarterback. The Bills in 2018 were 4-8 after 12 games — sound familiar? — and finished 6-10.
“You’ve got to go through the building on a weekly basis and, ‘Listen, trust the process, trust the plan, we’re going to get this thing going,’ ’’ Schoen said. “I’ve got a lot of talented people in the building, whether the personnel staff or the coaching staff. You’re going to go through adverse times in the NFL and you’ve got to understand that things are going to be better and trust the process and it takes time.’’
It takes time. And sometimes it takes another dose of losing before the winning takes hold.