Brian Daboll summed up Deonte Banks’ performance in six blunt words after the cornerback’s entrance to the game coincided with an epic collapse from the New York Giants’ defense to prompt a 33-32 defeat to the Denver Broncos in Week 7.
The Giants surrendered 33 points in the fourth quarter, squandering leads of 19-0 and 26-8 in the process. Banks was culpable more than once following his introduction for injured starter Paulson Adebo. Never more so than when the first-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft gave up the key completion that positioned Wil Lutz to kick the game-winning field goal for the Broncos as time expired at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday, October 19.
Yet despite Banks making more errors to compound his status as a draft bust, Daboll was defiant when speaking to reporters after the game. He told the media, including SNY.tv’s Connor Hughes, how “Everyone who’s out there we trust,” when asked about Banks’ presence in the game.
Daboll is willing to defend Banks, but patience is wearing thin among the fanbase toward a player who has rarely lived up to the billing. That same frustration now applies to a seemingly talented defense promising more than it delivers and making NFL history for all the wrong reasons by letting the Broncos score “the most points in the 4th quarter by any team that was shut out in the first 3 quarters.”
Giants Again Saw the Worst of Deonte Banks
The backlash against Banks isn’t happening in isolation. It’s been brewing for a while, gaining momentum thanks to examples of Banks lacking effort.
Critics can now add Broncos’ quarterback Bo Nix running around Banks for a touchdown to the list of lowlights of the corner appearing to shirk responsibility as a tackler. The play was well designed, putting Banks (2), all 6-foot-2, 200 pounds of him, against 300-pound Broncos’ left tackle Garrett Bolles, but the Giants still needed some hustle and intensity to help set the edge.
Banks has been guilty of not showing enough of either of those qualities. He’s also lost too many matchups in coverage, like when Courtland Sutton out-jumped and out-muscled Banks to secure this clutch catch, highlighted by Giants Nation Show, to give Lutz an easier field-goal attempt from 39 yards.
Disappointing reps like this are why Banks lost his starting spot in the offseason. Wanting more from Banks and not getting it is also why the Giants signed Adebo in free agency and have him shadowing top receivers, the way he travelled with Sutton early in Denver, per Dan Duggan of The Athletic.
Things unravelled in a hurry once Adebo succumbed to a knee problem, and Banks is taking the brunt of the anger, but Daboll shared frustration about his defense around.
Brian Daboll Saw Plenty Wrong With Giants’ Defense
Daboll needed to clarify to reporters “he wasn’t specifically yelling at DC Shane Bowen at the end of the game. He said he was yelling because ‘we lost the game,’” according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.
That answer may not convince everybody, including Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News, who believed Daboll was “screaming” at his play-caller. Whatever the true target of Daboll’s wrath, there’s plenty of blame to go around for the way the Giants collapsed defensively during the final 15 minutes.
A unit that had the Broncos beat in every phase for most of the game, collectively crumbled when it mattered most. That’s an indictment of both personnel and coaching, so maybe the Giants shouldn’t trust Banks, but perhaps players need to ask more questions about the schemes their coaches are asking them to perform.
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