Five Blown Games, One Wasted Season: Why the Giants Need a Total Coaching Reset

11/24/2025

The New York Giants didn't just lose games this season—they gave them away. Week after week, the script played out the same way: build a lead, stall out, mismanage the clock, and hand momentum—and ultimately the win—to the opponent. By Thanksgiving, the Giants had blown at least five games in which they held a legitimate chance to win in the second half. FIVE! In the NFL, that's not bad luck—that's a coaching problem.

Jaxson Dart Deserved Better

The most frustrating part?
Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart showed flashes of something real—energy, poise, and the kind of spark the Giants haven't seen in years. He extended plays, attacked downfield, and injected life into an offense that had been sleepwalking through the early season. His growth was visible. His confidence was rising.

But all of that was wasted.

Dart kept putting the Giants in position to win, only for those chances to evaporate because the coaching staff couldn't finish games, couldn't manage the clock, and couldn't make situational decisions that championship teams make instinctively.

The Coaching Collapse

When fans talk about coaching issues, it's not just "we don't like the play-calling." It's bigger than that. It's systemic:

  • Poor clock management in close games.

  • Questionable fourth-down decisions when the safer option was obvious.

  • Defensive breakdowns in crunch time, blowing leads in the fourth quarter.

  • Zero ability to adjust when opponents made halftime changes.

  • Lack of discipline, leading to penalties at the worst possible moments.

Those patterns fall on one group: the coaches.

Brian Daboll was fired two weeks ago. Shane Bowen on Monday because of the disaster, it's clear that complete staff turnover is the only path forward.

The Lions Loss: The Last Straw

If one game captured the Giants' season in four quarters, it was the meltdown against the Detroit Lions.

Up late in the fourth quarter, facing a 4th down at the goal line, interim head coach Mike Kafka made the stunning decision to go for it instead of kicking an easy field goal. A field goal that would have put the Giants up by 6 and applied real pressure on Detroit.

Instead? They got nothing.

The Lions marched down the field, tied the game, and eventually won 34-27 in overtime.

This wasn't aggressive coaching.
This was reckless coaching.
And reckless coaching has been the Giants' identity all season long.

Five Lost Wins = A Lost Identity

Imagine a world where those blown games flip:

  • The Giants sit squarely in the playoff hunt with Packers, 49ers, and ahead of the Lions.

  • Jaxson Dart becomes one of the hottest rookie stories of the year.

  • Veterans buy back in.

  • The franchise has real momentum for the first time in a decade.

Instead, the team spiraled into chaos, firing coaches and making desperate adjustments that never masked the original problem: game management was consistently awful. Lack of productivity most of the games.

A Clean Slate Is the Only Answer

The Giants don't need minor adjustments. They need a full reset.

  • A new head coach.

  • New coordinators.

  • New philosophy.

  • New people who understand modern NFL situational football.

  • A staff that can nurture Jaxson Dart instead of wasting his talent.

This roster isn't void of talent—it's void of direction.

And until the organization replaces every coach responsible for these collapses, they'll keep watching winnable games slip through their fingers.

Share