Brian Daboll and the New York Football Giants opened their 2022 campaign with a Week 1 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday after the head coach's gutsy decision to go for what proved to be a game-winning two-point conversion in the final minute.
It started off the season on a positive note for the G-Men as Saquon Barkley compiled just shy of 200 yards of offense in the 21-20 verdict. It wasn't exactly a foreseen outcome, though, as depicted with the vast majority of bettors and survivor league players rolling with the Titans. It's likely that recent glimpses of the Giants, including how they looked during parts of their preseason, played a role in that lack of confidence from the public.
Daboll, though, indicated the stretch was part of his plan in helping the Giants in the long term.
"I think you owe it to your team to teach them how to deal with adversity," Daboll told NBC Sports' Peter King for his Week 1 "Football Morning In America" column published Monday. "In camp, we put the offense in some terrible, terrible situations -- I knew it'd be a miserable day for the offense. That's okay. I want to see how Daniel (Jones) and Saquon and the coaches, even, respond. I think I owe that to the team. So they all get through that, and they're better for it. Will we always win on a two-point play? No. But like I told them last week, I have confidence in you guys. I want you guys to be aggressive out there. I want to be like I tell the quarterbacks to be -- aggressive, not reckless."
Jones and the Giants weren't notable during the preseason opener against the New England Patriots, for one. Despite no New England defensive starters taking the field for the first game, New York's first-team offense didn't exactly have their way while scoring three points on two drives. If it does prove to benefit the Giants in the end, though, it undoubtedly was a message worth sending.
The Giants now head into Week 2 as the home favorite against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
