Giants legend calls out HC Brian Daboll before Raiders game

New York Giants legend and current CBS Sports NFL analyst Tiki Barber thinks the club's game at the 3-5 Las Vegas Raiders this Sunday could say plenty about second-year Big Blue head coach Brian Daboll. 

"For the first time, I think coach Daboll is not in a position of control," Barber explained during Friday's edition of the WFAN "Evan and Tiki" program, per Ryan Chichester of Audacy. "There was a time where he got the job a year and a half ago, we didn’t know what to expect, and very quickly, he showed us. He was going to be a risk-taker. He’s gonna have his team highly prepared. His team would talk about accountability…at the beginning of this season, things started to twist and turn. That solid foundation started to lose itself a little bit." 

Daboll earned Coach of the Year honors for his first campaign with the Giants after he guided the club to a 9-7-1 regular-season record and a playoff victory at the Minnesota Vikings. A once-promising 2023 season quickly turned into an injury-plagued nightmare for Daboll and company, and he received criticism throughout this week after his decision to kick a field goal while facing a 4th-and-1 situation late in last Sunday's game against the New York Jets blew up in his face. 

The 2-6 Giants have quarterback Daniel Jones back from injury and now head to Las Vegas to face a Raiders side that features a first-time interim head coach and an unproven rookie signal-caller. Barber suggested Daboll needs to earn a win at Allegiant Stadium for reasons that go beyond the standings and the Giants' fading playoff hopes. 

"Who is this head coach, and what can we expect from him going forward? I hope it’s what we saw last year, but I think this game starts defining that in a much clearer way," Barber added. 

For what it's worth, sportsbooks believe Barber could feel quite disappointed by the time Sunday evening arrives. On Friday afternoon, oddschecker listed the Giants as 1.5-point underdogs versus the Raiders.