Brian Daboll’s Giants still going nowhere, as loss to Commanders continues MetLife misery

The Giants actually scored more than one touchdown Sunday.
Congratulations?
They still got not enough from their offense — and too few big stops from their defense — as they lost yet again, 27-22 to the Commanders.
They’re 2-7, including 0-5 at home. They have lost four straight games. Their season is over.
And if they fall to the woeful Panthers next Sunday in Munich, co-owner John Mara’s anticipation that coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen will return could quickly turn into thoughts of firing both, after Year 3.
The Schoen/Daboll Giants are now 8-18 since the beginning of last season, when they opened 2-8. They are 10-22-1 (when playing starters in the regular season) since that magical 7-2 start in 2022.
At the very least, the clock is now ticking down loudly on quarterback Daniel Jones, who probably will be benched before this season ends, so the Giants aren’t on the hook for his 2025 injury guarantee ($23 million). In the meantime, Schoen could ship off Darius Slayton and/or Azeez Ojulari before Tuesday’s trade deadline, since this team is still very much in the gutter.
On Sunday, the Giants needed a stop and a score after cutting the Commanders’ lead to 24-16 — on a touchdown and failed two point conversion — with 9:25 left.
They didn’t get it. The Commanders chewed up 5:39 and kicked a field goal, putting the Giants down 27-16 — largely because Daboll’s offense was stuck on two touchdowns. (And that’s a lot for this offense, which cracked the end zone at home just once in its first four games.)
The Giants did get another touchdown (their third) on their next offensive drive, though their two-point conversion failed again, so they trailed 27-22 with 2:48 left.
The Commanders quickly iced the game. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Jayden Daniels — who Daboll surely wishes he had — threw a 42-yard pass, to the Giants’ 27. Washington wound up running out the clock.
The Giants came into Sunday needing much more from their offense, with Daboll calling plays. They were averaging just shy of 14 points. In eight games, they had scored one touchdown twice and zero touchdowns three times. That, quite obviously, is not sustainable.
Late in the third quarter, the Giants settled for a field goal, trimming the lead to 21-10 — after a fourth-and-1 touchdown pass from the 3 was called back because Darius Slayton set an illegal pick, which sprung Wan’Dale Robinson wide open to catch the ball in the end zone. It was a huge missed opportunity for this sluggish Giants offense — an 11-point margin instead of seven.
The Commanders answered with a field goal, so the Giants were again down 14 entering the fourth quarter. The Giants showed life, with a battering-ram 2-yard yard touchdown run by Jones that made it 24-16 with 9:25 left, after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
The Commanders delivered a massive blow just before halftime, going up 21-7 with six seconds left on an 18-yard touchdown catch by Terry McLaurin, who beat Deonte Banks — just as McLaurin did for a touchdown earlier in the half. It was an awful first half for Banks — coming off a benching last week in Pittsburgh — as he allowed his fifth and sixth touchdowns of the season.
The Giants, booed off the field at half, got zero passing yards (and 50 rushing) from Jones, who was 4-of-6 and threw a touchdown. Their defense allowed 181 yards, as the Commanders managed to score that late touchdown despite facing third-and-18 from the Giants’ 42 with 20 seconds left. First came Dru Phillips’ brutal missed tackle on a 24-yard catch, then McLaurin’s touchdown on the next play.
The game started disastrously for the Giants, because of course it did. Their second drive reached Washington’s 29 — and then horrific replacement left tackle Chris Hubbard (12 pressures allowed last week) got beat by Dante Fowler. He knocked the ball away from Jones, who held it too long.
The Commanders took over at the Giants’ 31 and cashed in, going up 7-0, as McLaurin beat Banks for a 1-yard touchdown catch. Banks, who might just be a first-round bust, looked completely lost throughout the first half.
The Giants immediately responded by grinding out a 16-play, 73-yard touchdown drive of their own, as Jones snapped a six-game drought without a home touchdown. It was just the Giants’ second home touchdown this season, in their fifth game at MetLife Stadium.
The Giants entered Sunday having lost three straight games, as they seemingly moved closer to benching Jones.
The Giants had two wins or fewer at the eight-game mark (for the seventh time in eight seasons) largely because Daboll’s offense was doing next to nothing — 10 touchdowns in eight games. The Giants were 0-4 at home, with just one touchdown, while being showered with boos throughout all four games. Most recently at home, they got crushed 28-3 by Saquon Barkley’s Eagles.
They managed three touchdowns in their Week 2 game at Washington, but lost because of their kicking fiasco. It had been that kind of pathetic Year 3 for Daboll, who went 6-11 last season.
Plus, his two matchups with the Commanders reminded him of what might have been. Daniels thrived early this season, after being drafted second overall. The Giants started 2-8 last season and were in the mix for Daniels or Drake Maye — they wanted either to replace Jones — but closed 4-3 (four meaningless wins, including three with Tommy DeVito starting) and wound up with the sixth pick. How much will they regret that?
Meanwhile, Jones entered Sunday with zero touchdowns at home this season. More broadly, he was the first NFL quarterback since 1950 to lose six straight home games and not throw a single touchdown pass in any of those games. That’s hard to do.
So is keeping things on the rails in yet another lost season. After Monday night’s loss in Pittsburgh, two Giants veterans called out their teammates — which didn’t reflect well on Daboll. Brian Burns said this team “needs to grow up.” Dexter Lawrence said the Giants must “show more passion” — after blasting his secondary on the sideline during the game for not competing hard enough.
Daboll finally benched the struggling Banks for crummy tackling in Pittsburgh, after letting him off easy despite two poor-effort showings in a four-game stretch, against Dallas and Philadelphia. Banks started again Sunday versus the Commanders.
He, like the Giants, needed to respond quickly, as the season spiraled even before Halloween.
As it turned out, neither responded well enough.
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Darryl Slater may be reached at [email protected].