The New York Giants are still undefeated before week three of the current NFL season. If they also hold off the Dallas Cowboys in the Monday Night Game, they would be one of three teams without a loss. The East Rutherford franchise, which has been in a rebuild for what feels like forever, has faint hopes. Will rookie coach Brian Daboll finally lead the Giants into calmer waters and the road to success?

New York/Munich – A new and fresh wind is blowing at the New York Giants at the beginning of the season. The “Big Blue” join an elite list before week three of the current season and are still undefeated before their Monday Night Game against the Dallas Cowboys. Only the Miami Dolphins and division rival Philadelphia Eagles, but both of whom have already played on Sunday, also have perfect records.

So the Giants – a team that has been in rebuild mode for years in the NFC East, one of the league’s historically worst divisions – now in the same breath as playoff teams?

Few fans, pundits or players could have imagined that the new season would get off to such a good start for the Big Blue. Since the departure of quarterback legend Eli Manning, the franchise seems to be in search of new successes.

With Daniel Jones as his successor, the New Yorkers never had more than six league wins per season in four years. Last season, the Giants finished last in the NFC East with a 4-13 record.

New York Giants clean up: Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen become new management duo

With those numbers in mind, it’s fair to ask: How did the East Rutherford franchise get off to its current perfect start to the season? The opening programme with close wins against the Tennessee Titans (21:20) and the Carolina Panthers (19:16) was not the most difficult in principle, but most observers and experts expected two losses against teams with stars like Derrick Henry or Baker Mayfield.

One reason could be Head Coach Brian Daboll and General Manager Joe Schoen. Both have formed the new management level at the Giants since the current season. Previously they were employed by the Buffalo Bills: Daboll ran superstar Josh Allen’s high-scoring offense as offensive coordinator and Schoen earned his spurs as assistant general manager behind Brandon Bean.

At the start of the current season, the two took over in New York from the hapless Joe Judge and longtime general manager Dave Gettleman. Ex-Patriots coach Judge picked up only ten wins in his two years in the “Big Apple”, Gettleman, besides a long-standing squad mismanagement, was above all negatively chalked up to the draft of Daniel Jones.

On his advice, the Giants selected Jones 8th overall in 2019 – ahead of former Washington Commanders quarterback Dwayne Haskins. The latter was considered to actually be a more talented player and even let it be known before the draft that he would love to play in New York.

NFL: Can the Giants bring consistency back to their performance?

Daboll and Schoen made the draft a top priority in their inaugural season in New York. With early first-round picks at positions 5 and 7, they brought linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux and guard Evan Neal to the Giants. And the Giants’ two newcomers got plenty of praise after their draft.

Now the Giants are off to a great start this season and after years of self-proclaimed rebuilds, they finally have reason to rejoice: The current 2-0 record means the best start of the “G-Men” in six (!) years. So are the bad years finally over for players and fans?

Of course, this question will only be answered as the season progresses. Because in order to turn a team from the bottom third of the league into a play-off team, it needs one thing above all: consistency.

Daboll, who remains modest as a rookie coach and wants to be successful with the Giants in the long rather than the short term, also knows this.

During his introduction as head coach of the Giants, the 47-year-old made it clear that he had exactly this consistency in mind: “We want to make sure that our players get into the best possible shape for them to win games in the end. That is what we are all here for: To learn, to nurture and develop talent and to win. Because winning is fun.”

And is essential, especially in the “Big Apple”. Because in the media jungle of New York City, with a team like the Giants that has been consistently bad for many years, performances are definitely scrutinised more critically than elsewhere in the NFL.

Giants: With Daboll out of the rebuild and into the playoffs?

Ahead of the divisional duel with the Cowboys, Daboll is as unexcited as possible. “I think you can definitely acknowledge that there’s a little bit of a tingle because it’s a divisional duel. But we want to get the next win first.”

In doing so, the head coach wants the Giants to set off a chain reaction: “First of all, you want to score on every possession you have. That’s how you win games and that’s how you win the playoffs and the Super Bowl.” Now Daboll and the Giants have to show they can finally march out of the Rebuild. Maybe even straight to the playoffs.