The questioning wasn't just aimed at Daniel Jones.
That was reserved for Brian Daboll.
You can't really blame Daniel Jones (two touchdown passes, 32 rushing yards) or Malik Neighbors (18 targets, 10 touchdowns, 127 yards, one touchdown) for the Commanders' 21 points and the Giants' 18 points.
This is the head coach's responsibility.
You can’t blame Daboll for wanting to resist, considering Dan Quinn had a field goal kicker capable of kicking a total of seven FGs, while Daboll didn’t have a kicker he trusted enough to kick the PAT.
Daboll took his headset off when journeyman Austin Seibert's 30-yard walk-off field goal put him and the Giants out of a 0-2 slump, but it was just the beginning.
He bet on a healthy Graham Gano, who was named on Saturday's injury report, but lost the bet when Gano quickly injured his hamstring during a 98-yard kickoff return that was called off while trying to chase down Austin Ekeler.
When punter Jamie Gillan missed the first PAT, Daboll didn't trust him, no matter how close Jones and Neighbors kept the offense.
On a day when the Giants defense was outshot 35-for-215 by the rushing guard, on a day when the quick-footed Jayden Daniels was active on third down and on a day when Jones only had the ball for 22 minutes, 28 seconds, Daboll kept pushing his struggling quarterback to get the ball in the end zone.
Daboll was shaken in the first quarter by a missed PAT from the right side by Guillen, and then two failed 2-point conversion attempts from Jones to Darius Slayton, including one with 11:32 left that would have given the Giants a 19-15 lead, but Daboll missed five points.
“We had a couple of two-point plays that we liked,” Daboll said.
“I feel for Graham, I feel for us,” Daboll said, “but I'm not going to make excuses. We had our chances.”
Could a right groin injury lead to a right hamstring injury?
“I don't think I'm a doctor,” Daboll said.
Be safe first, avoid regrets.
If you play with fire, you will get burned.
He could have considered practice squad PK Jude McAtamney to handle kickoff duties, but didn't use him (or Guillen) from the practice squad.
“I'm not going to get into the discussions we had,” Daboll said.
Daboll patiently answered question after question about the kicking fiasco.
“I thought Graham was OK. … He didn't hurt his groin, he hurt his hamstring.”
The Giants were in trouble.
“Anyone can get hurt. There are no excuses.”
“I thought he was excellent. I thought he was excellent.”
“All decisions are mine to make.”
“We thought he was OK. We've talked to him. We've talked to the trainers. Again, I can't say for sure he's going to get hurt chasing a 100-yard kickoff return that was called off.”
“I thought Graham was a good player, he would have been good if he hadn't hurt his hamstring.”
However, I hurt my hamstring.
Hindsight is 20/20, but that's why they sell insurance, right?
“Again, we're happy with our decision. I hurt my hamstring so obviously it didn't work out.”
Neighbors rued a dropped fourth-down, four-yard pass down the right sideline from the Washington 22 with 2:04 left in the game.
“I'm hurt that I let our veterans down,” Neighbors said.
Of course, there was still no guarantee the Giants would be able to break an 18-18 tie.
The defense let everyone down.
“We got them by the neck as defenders, we've got to break their neck,” Brian Barnes said.
Gano thought he was hitting the ball well in warmups, he was convinced there was no correlation between the groin and the hamstring, and he reminded us that there is indeed a difference between playing injured and playing through an injury.
“I was going to try as much as I could, it was just bad luck. I wasn't worried at all but I think I was running too much for my fitness,” he said. “I think I could have taken anything within 50 yards. I was feeling confident going into the game. It was just bad luck with the hamstring.”
They say luck is a residual product of planning.
“If I could do it over again, I would do it exactly the same way,” he said, and if he did, Giants fans would be in an uproar.
