NFL

Daboll's Giants reap benefits of his 'keep swinging' philosophy as Ravens beat themselves again

By Sports Desk October 17, 2022

When he arrived as the New York Giants head coach this offseason, Brian Daboll preached the importance of continuing to compete regardless of the scoreline.

Through six weeks of the 2022 season, it could not be more clear they have absorbed that message.

The Giants improved to 5-1 on Sunday with another comeback win, this time over the Baltimore Ravens.

Baltimore led 20-10 with under 13 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium. However, the Giants produced an improbable turnaround as Daniel Jones connected with Daniel Bellinger for an eight-yard touchdown and, after Lamar Jackson was intercepted by Julian Love, Saquon Barkley rushed for his second game-winning score in as many weeks.

Kayvon Thibodeaux then sacked Jackson, forcing a fumble that sealed victory for the Giants, who sit second in the NFC East behind the 6-0 Philadelphia Eagles.

The win over the Ravens followed the Giants' dramatic triumph in London, in which they recovered from a 17-3 deficit to stun the Green Bay Packers 27-22. 

Daboll's men have trailed in all six of their games this season, with their five comeback wins the most in the NFL.

"It's something we’ve preached since day one — since we've been here: coaches, people in the building," Daboll said.

"This league is hard. It’s not always going to be perfect. There will be a lot of people down on you. And you might be down on yourself, wish you could do better.

"But you keep on getting back up. You keep on swinging, keep on competing, regardless of the score or the situation of the game. And that’s not easy to do, right? That’s not easy to do when you're down.

"If you sit on the bench and start bitching and complaining, that’s easy to do. It’s hard to stick with it and get ready to play the next series and not worry about if you just got beat on a pass or if you got sacked. You've got to flush it pretty quick."

The Ravens will want to flush away the memory of this defeat in short order, but their latest collapse was a continuation of a theme for Baltimore.

All three of their defeats have come by one score and in the final minutes. They are the 39th team in NFL history to hold a double-digit lead in all of their first six games, but the only one not to have a winning record.

"When you are your own biggest enemy, that's really something that can frustrate anyone," Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. "We know how much talent we have on this team. We're going to pull it together. That's kind of the frustration that everybody has."

Jackson added: "We just can't keep beating ourselves up because that's what it is. It is not our opponent ... I feel like we just beating ourselves with little mistakes here and there."

Despite their consistent failure to close games out, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is upbeat they can still be a contender in the AFC.

"We'll regroup, we'll go to work, and we're going to find ourselves as a football team," Harbaugh said.

"That's what we have to do right now: find ourselves as a football team. We have an opportunity to be a very good football team. We can be as good as we want to be and decide to be."

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