Giants only concerned about meeting own high expectations
NY Post
Expectations in the NFL are like volatile roller coasters. They can be exhilarating when they’re met or exceeded. And they can make you queasy when things aren’t as easy.
When Brian Daboll was hired to replace Joe Judge as the Giants head coach in 2022, the team was in the midst of a five-season free fall that included just 22 wins against 59 losses.
So the expectations for Daboll’s first season, outside of the Giants locker room, weren’t exactly what you would term lofty.
Yet, there were the Giants, finishing 9-7-1 and winning a wild-card playoff game at Minnesota, earning Daboll NFL Coach of the Year honors. It was the Giants’ first postseason game since 2016 and first playoff victory since their 2011 Super Bowl season.
That kind of success wasn’t expected by anyone, least of all Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen, who were embarking on a full-on culture reboot and roster teardown, and were prepared for a slow and steady climb to respectability.
The immediate and surprising success proved to be a curse of sorts, though, because the bar was raised to a level the 2023 Giants weren’t able to reach.
SALT LAKE CITY — It’s easy to forget about the quiet, which in Knicks World means Leon Rose. We’re approaching five years — amazingly — since the team president answered questions from the independent media, and I’ve always maintained that’s poor practice because it avoids responsibility. If there’s no public explanation behind a move or a goal, there’s no accountability if it doesn’t work out.
PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets’ 2025 failing (one of them anyway) might be their big strength now.
The discourse has gone on for two seasons now. But it doesn’t exactly match reality.
Where were the grownups for Team USA?
The Rangers reconvened after the Olympic stoppage wanting to find some successful combinations that had been largely absent through much of a disappointing last-place season.
SALT LAKE CITY — There was no sugarcoating an ugly first-half performance from the Knicks in the locker room, and the harsh words during the break helped spur a comeback in Wednesday’s 134-117 victory over the Jazz.
Team USA’s fate is out of its hands.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Jasson Domínguez’s first-inning at-bat against Tanner Banks on Tuesday featured a different result and a different swing than “The Martian” had been accustomed to against lefty pitching.
Maxx Crosby isn’t looking in the rearview after a wild 24 hours.
Bam Adebayo occupies a new spot in the NBA history books.
Jets fans have been waiting for months to put the 2025 season in the past and start building a new roster.
SALT LAKE CITY — Leon Rose tried to address the bench in the summer. It didn’t work. He got a redo at the trade deadline with Jose Alvarado and Jeremy Sochan.
If Isaiah Likely was the most … er … likely former Raven to follow head coach John Harbaugh to the Giants, Patrick Ricard wasn’t far behind.