10 NY Giants and NFL Observations: Is Joe Judge too conservative?

2. Overly Conservative Judge

In two instances, Giants head coach Joe Judge stayed conservative in fourth down situations, settling for a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yardline with a 10-3 lead late in the second quarter, and opting to take a delay-of-game penalty and punt facing fourth-and-two from the Washington 38-yard line early in the second half with a three-point lead.

According to the math, Judge should have kept the offense on the field both times. Neither was late enough in the game for the time and score to factor in much at all, so his conservative decisions likely cost the Giants win-equity. They also belayed a lack of trust in his offense and in his young quarterback.

It’s definitely a glass half-empty scenario. Either Judge is likely to make poor decisions in big spots in the future in terms of applying analytics to his in-game decisions, or he doesn’t trust his offense. If it comes down to his opinion of Daniel Jones, that might not bode well for the youngster’s future. For now, it’s something for Giants fans to keep an eye on.