If Brian Daboll had just said that he was defiantly doubling down on embattled kicker Graham Gano, it would’ve been easier to rationalize than the explanation that he offered for attempting a 22-yard field goal.
With the Giants trying to cut into a 13-point second-half deficit, Daboll brought out Gano — who had missed a 45-yard field goal earlier in the game — rather than attempt a fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line.
Gano converted, but it changed very little Sunday in a 34-24 loss to the 49ers.
“If it was a certain distance, we would have went for it,” Daboll said. “Made it a 10-point game. That’s the reason why.”
So, 12 feet was too far away to try a run or pass for an extra four points and to make it a one-score game at 20-14. Was 11? Was 10?
Daboll’s decision to kick was more curious because Gano hooked his first field goal wide left late in the first half. It was a gut punch after Brian Burns’ strip-sack caused a fumble to pop into Abdul Carter’s outstretched arms.
“That was, I wouldn’t say the breaker, but you’d love to have points down there,” Daboll said. “Didn’t get it done.”
Of course, Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka could’ve been more aggressive after being handed first-and-10 on the cusp of the red zone with 33 seconds remaining.
Tyrone Tracy Jr. ran for no gain and then Jaxson Dart threw back-to-back short incompletions.
“I don’t think we were playing for three [points] at all,” Dart said. “Plays that were called, I thought they were good plays. We just didn’t execute as players.”
Added left tackle Andrew Thomas, “I don’t make the calls. All I do is execute my job.”
Gano, who has become a lightning rod for Giants fans, then missed as the Giants’ deficit remained at 17-7 going to halftime.
“I hit it really well,” Gano told The Post. “The wind was going left to right. It just didn’t move. Frustrating, for sure. I was expecting to come back right, honestly, but it kept staying straight left.”
Gano returned last week from a four-game stint on injured reserve (groin). He has been injured leading into a game or on the first kick of the game three times in the last three seasons, which has made him a target of ire even though anger easily could be directed at the front office and coaching staff for mismanaging Plan Bs to a 38-year-old kicker.
“Only miss all day — warm-ups and all,” Gano told The Post. “Have to hit that one. My [third] miss in two years.”
The Giants ended up with three points from two possessions inside the 28-yard line on a day when the Jaguars’ Cam Little set an NFL record with a 68-yard field goal.
Did the miss hurt worse on the heels of Burns’ big play?
“That’s for other people to decide,” Gano said. “My job is to make my kicks, which I’ve been doing a pretty damn good job of.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
