When the cameras found Brian Daboll on Sunday in Philadelphia, the New York Giants’ coach frequently appeared apoplectic.

The outrage felt understandable at least twice, as officials not only wiped out a Giants fumble recovery but also negated a touchdown with a questionable penalty for offensive pass interference.

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Daboll tends to be animated anyway (there’s an understatement), but the cumulative stressors of the job mount as the defeats pile up. And the defeats have been piling up in bunches: 26 in the past 36 games for Daboll, including 38-20 to Philadelphia on Sunday, a week after his Giants gave up 33 points in the fourth quarter to lose 33-32 against Denver.

Only Tennessee (8-28) has a worse record than the Giants’ 10-26 mark since Week 7 of the 2023 season.

The Pick Six column takes a closer look at four teams whose coaches are encountering turbulence in their third seasons or later: the Giants, Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals.

How warm are the seats beneath these coaches? Only the team owners truly know. Every situation carries unique circumstances, but an expensive common denominator links Daboll (Giants), Kevin Stefanski (Browns), Mike McDaniel (Dolphins) and Jonathan Gannon (Cardinals). The full Pick Six menu this week:

• Four coaching situations to watch

• Caleb Williams and Jared Goff

• Travis Hunter’s slow start

• Odds favoring an NFL scandal?

• Kevin Patullo, A.J. Brown and Eagles

• Two-minute drill: Re-topping AFC

1. Daboll, Stefanski, McDaniel and Gannon have all had underperforming expensive quarterbacks on the books, but their situations are not the same. Here’s why some might not be in trouble at all.

We can see below how these four coaches have dipped below .500 over the course of their tenures while their teams were paying large sums to four quarterbacks — Daniel Jones (formerly of the Giants, now starring in Indy), Deshaun Watson (Browns), Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins) and Kyler Murray (Cardinals) — without getting what they hoped for in return.

The Dolphins’ McDaniel peeked above .500 after Miami beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-10 on Sunday.

"It's very disappointing to those teams when they find out there's a lot more that goes into being a Tier 1 quarterback than having that ballpoint pen run across that paper when the kid signs," an exec from an NFL team said.

Isn't it remarkable how the Giants' big slide started almost immediately after the team signed Jones for $40 million per year? Isn't it even more remarkable how Indianapolis' ascension to the NFL's best record this season (7-1) began right after Jones signed a one-year deal with the Colts?

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Perhaps the Giants re-signed Jones when they thought they had the roster that Indy actually has right now. It's also possible Jones learned from experience and is flourishing in an easier media market.

"The expectations of draft status in the building you were drafted to can be next to impossible to overcome," one coach said. "Once you get the chains off and are in a decent environment, a la Sam Darnold, a la Danny Dimes, it can be a different deal."

There's no way to make a case for Daboll staying based on an 11-31 record over the past three seasons. If the fire-breathing version of Daboll we see on the sideline resembles the version the Giants are living with behind the scenes, that would seem to work against him as well.

Brian Daboll not happy with the call 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/NdTYpdVZhw — FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 26, 2025

The team did become exciting this season, at least, with rookie Jaxson Dart taking over at quarterback. Is that enough to save Daboll's and general manager Joe Schoen's jobs?

"If the offense is on track and the quarterback is on a developmental track that is acceptable, they'll let them go another year," another coach said. "The only way they turn it over is if they get a big name."

The challenge for Daboll steepened when No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers suffered a season-ending knee injury. Losing rookie running back Cam Skattebo to a dislocated ankle Sunday delivered an emotional blow.

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