Evan calls out Brian Daboll for 'cowardly' decisions: 'He's not the same freaking guy'

During the 2023 season, Evan expressed concern that Brian Daboll, lauded for being a gutsy head coach in his Coach of the Year campaign a year prior, had suddenly become “cowardly” in his coaching in year two.

Daboll’s first game of year three did nothing to quell those concerns for Evan. In fact, it only enhanced them.

“I got a major issues with this head coach,” Evan said. “When he was first hired, the first impression he gave us was this tough, gutsy, ballsy head coach. He went for the win, and it changed the entire complexion of the season right off the bat.

“I thought, maybe this season with him actually being the play caller, and with more talent at wide receiver and taking more shots down the field, that maybe we would see the old Brian Daboll.”

Instead, Evan saw multiple instances where Daboll could have showed some more of those guts that he displayed in year one, like when he went for two (and the win) in Week 1 against the Titans. One of those moments occurred in the first half, when Daboll elected to punt on 4 ^th -and-3 instead of looking to move the chains and get back in the game.

“The Giants are set up in a spot in which they have to go for it,” Evan said. “They have to be aggressive. It was a 4th-and-3 from midfield...the Giants defense wouldn’t stop a nosebleed, it was 14-3 Minnesota right after a 99-yard drive. And remember how that drive ended? They went for it on 4 ^th -and-goal from the 3-yard line.

“I was absolutely floored/disgusted/embarrassed/angry, whatever adjective you want to use, that he sent the punter out...Think about how soft, how non-gutsy, how weak that decision is...everything around that made that a cowardly play call.”

Evan also took great exception to Daboll punting in the second half when the score was 28-6 and the Giants were facing another 4 ^th -and-3, a move that Evan thought was a “give-up call.”

“I can go back and look for the line of demarcation where he went from Brian ‘Daballs’ to Brian ‘DaNoballs,’ but he’s different,” Evan said. “He’s not the same freaking guy.”