Leading up to Sunday night’s game against the Bills, Giants coach Brian Daboll refused to entertain any suggestion that the matchup carried extra meaning. But for someone who grew up in western New York and was propelled to his first head-coaching job by his work as the Bills’ offensive coordinator, it was obvious that it would have been special to pull off an upset in his homecoming.
But just as so little has gone his team’s way this season, it wasn’t meant to be for Daboll. An incomplete pass by quarterback Tyrod Taylor from Buffalo’s 1-yard line on the final play of the game sealed the Bills’ theft of a 14-9 win.
“We just came up a yard short,” Daboll lamented.
It was impressive that Daboll’s undermanned team was a yard away from the stunning victory. With Taylor starting in place of Daniel Jones (neck), the Giants were 15.5-point underdogs. That’s the biggest spread on an NFL game this season. But Daboll was in no mood for moral victories as the clock ticked crept toward midnight on a gloomy night in his hometown.
“You don’t get trophies for trying,” Daboll said.
The Giants have mostly only gotten losses for their efforts this season. They dropped to 1-5 with their latest defeat. After enduring a gauntlet of Super Bowl contenders to open the season, the Giants’ schedule now lightens, beginning with a home game against Washington next Sunday.
The Giants will need to shed the disappointment from the loss to the Bills and hope Sunday’s effort is a sign of things to come.
“This is a tough one,” Daboll said. “They’re all tough when you don’t get the result you want. But the guys have had the right mindset. We’ll come back ready to work, put this one behind us. But it’s a tough one.”
Here are five more takeaways from the loss.
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