NFL Week 4 predictions, bets: Picks against the spread for every game
NEW YORK is a tough town for coaches.Even the most successful ones get fired.Often, the ax is expected, such as when the Rangers cut bait with Peter Laviolette after a disastrous season, one year after he led them to the NHL’s best record and within six wins of the Stanley Cup.Other times, it’s a shock.
Just ask Sandy Brondello, who was dumped by the Liberty a year after directing them to their first WNBA title.Or Tom Thibodeau, who was dispatched by the Knicks after taking them to their first Eastern Conference finals berth since 2000.This brings us to Brian Daboll, who holds a record of 18-35 three games into his fourth season.
His résumé includes a playoff road victory at Minnesota in the first year.Since then, his teams have gone 9-28 and have ranked 27th, 31st, and 30th in points scored.Not only that, the Giants couldn’t figure out how to score or win consistently with Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones, both of whom have gone on to, shall we say, bigger and better things.It appears there are two main reasons why Daboll will still be standing on the sideline Sunday when the Chargers come to MetLife Stadium.
One is that co-owner John Mara was tired of firing coaches after two seasons or less (Joe Judge, Pat Shurmur, Ben McAdoo).The other is that the Giants drafted Jaxson Dart with the 25th pick this season, and Daboll’s history with quarterbacks, most prominently Josh Allen, was enough to warrant giving this duo a shot.That chance has arrived in Week 4 after Daboll learned firsthand why Pete Carroll, Sean Payton and Mike Tomlin all believed Russell Wilson was washed up.Most likely, this will be Daboll’s last ace to play.
I don’t believe it’ll be enough for the Daboll-Dart tandem to go, let’s say, 4-10 in the next 14 games with an uptick near the end.There will be some hotshot offensive coordinator who will tell Mara and Steve Tisch how he could do better with Dart, and this time the owners probably will bite.Is this the right time to make the...