Mike Vrabel made it personal, and you can take that to the bank. He could stand there with one hand over his heart and the other over a stack of bibles and swear that New England\u2019s beatdown of the Giants was strictly business, and still I would not believe him.<\/p>\n
The Giants crushed his dream in Super Bowl XLII. The 2007 Patriots were denied a chance to finish 19-0 and go down as the greatest NFL team ever, and some haunted men who were in their locker room later said they had never felt such sweeping devastation.<\/p>\n
That was Vrabel\u2019s 19th and final postseason game as a Patriots linebacker. He won three Super Bowl rings before the Giants denied him a fourth. That year, Vrabel had career-highs in sacks (12.5) and forced fumbles (5), and caught two touchdown passes to earn All-Pro honors (first team) for the only time in his career. And then the underdog Giants stole away the only trophy that really mattered to him and every fellow apostle of the Patriot Way.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d bet good money that crossed Vrabel\u2019s mind when he saw those Giants jerseys Monday night, and when he watched his team unleash a fast and furious assault on the enemy, including the kind of vicious sideline shot on Jaxson Dart that the first-year Patriots coach would\u2019ve loved to put on Eli Manning back in the day.<\/p>\n
Players had to be separated after Patriots LB Christian Elliss hit Jaxson Dart along the sideline. pic.twitter.com\/wZPTVasGSw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ESPN (@espn) December 2, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The Patriots were up 30-7 at the half, and to at least one viewer old enough to remember, something obvious came to mind.<\/p>\n The Giants used physicality to beat Bill Belichick and Tom Brady in two Super Bowls, and to knock them around some during the regular season too. New England had more talent, but New York had more toughness. The Giants always believed that was their one edge on the dynasty to the north, and yet all these years later, the Patriots were the ones outhitting them, by a wide margin, and out-scheming them too. Vrabel left the building with an 11-2 record.<\/p>\n The Giants embarrassed themselves before the game (thanks to Abdul Carter), during the game (thanks to Younghoe Koo) and after the game (thanks to Mike Kafka). They were 2-11 for a second straight season, and losers of seven straight games and 13 straight road games. The next day, the man most responsible for that body of work had to stand before a mob carrying pitchforks and torches \u2014 I mean, iPhones and notebooks \u2014 and respond to all of their allegations.<\/p>\n Joe Schoen, beleaguered general manager, took it like a trouper. From the other side of their electronic devices, fans were cheering on the working press. When\u2019s the last time that ever happened?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a better question:<\/p>\n Why was Schoen even there in the first place?<\/p>\n Temperature rising<\/p>\n On Nov. 10, when Giants owners John Mara and Steve Tisch fired head coach Brian Daboll, they kept the GM who had hired him. Schoen had the same 20-40-1 record as Daboll but did not meet the same fate. Three more losses later, that decision looks very much like a mistake.<\/p>\n Schoen has become a toxic figure among a fan base that Mara cares dearly about. He\u2019s not at Nico Harrison levels, but close enough. And speaking of the fired Dallas Mavericks GM, the Giants could have done what the Mavericks did and named co-interim GMs to maintain a semblance of front-office stability throughout the season. They could\u2019ve appointed assistant GM Brandon Brown and longtime Giants executive Kevin Abrams or just made Brown the front office\u2019s Kafka. That would\u2019ve lowered the paying customers\u2019 temperature while also taking a quick look at a fresh face in the big chair.<\/p>\n It\u2019s too late for that now. Schoen will survive a bye week that, according to a Giants Nation Show poll, nearly 93 percent of 17,370 voting fans hoped would be a bye-bye week, and then he\u2019s expected to face a final judgment at season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Schoen is now busy working the back channels, identifying coaching candidates, and sharing that information with Mara and Tisch, who will make the final call on Daboll\u2019s\/Kafka\u2019s replacement. The Giants cannot possibly strike out again on this hire. They cannot hire another Daboll, Joe Judge, Pat Shurmur or Ben McAdoo. They cannot hire another novice, or another head coach who was 9-23 with the likes of the Cleveland Browns. (In a shocker, Shurmur was also 9-23 with the Giants.)<\/p>\n They have to hire a candidate with credible head-coaching experience, which is why Brian Flores made more sense than Daboll did in 2022. Flores had won 49 percent of his games with the Dolphins and had delivered two winning seasons out of three. Daboll, a first-timer, went on to win 33.6 percent of his games with the Giants and delivered one winning season out of four.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s problem No. 2 with Schoen still being on the job. The Giants need to hire the best available coach, not the one who happens to have no issues working with Joe Schoen. Those are very different things.<\/p>\n As there\u2019s no margin for error in this search, Schoen\u2019s presence is an unnecessary complication, and one a prominent and experienced head coach with options might not want to deal with. The GM has lost 28 of his last 34 games, and he\u2019s supposed to fill out Mike Tomlin\u2019s roster?<\/p>\n Listen, in fairness, Schoen is not without his redeeming qualities. He does deserve total credit for moving up and drafting Dart, full stop. On his two most important hires, head coach and quarterback, Schoen went 1-for-2.<\/p>\n He has acquired some ballers in key playmaking and line positions, and he has modernized Dave Gettleman\u2019s office, though that\u2019s a bit like replacing your grandfather\u2019s window unit with central air.<\/p>\n Jaxson Dart’s mindset heading into the bye week<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5: https:\/\/t.co\/Z2MBLeNRUO<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/NwUBxSTZoS<\/a><\/p>\n