Joe Judge’s end-game strategy dooms NY Giants in loss to Washington
One year and two games into Joe Judge’s tenure as NY Giants head coach, things seem to be getting worse very quickly, following a disastrous loss to Washington
For a brief moment Thursday night, James Bradberry went from the NY Giants’ goat against the Washington Football Team, to very nearly escaping as the hero, but a puzzling series of end-game decisions from head coach Joe Judge and undisciplined mistakes wound up handing Washington a 30-29 win.
With 2:16 remaining, Bradberry pulled down a Taylor Heinicke interception at Washington’s’ 25-yard line, seemingly pulling down a 29-27 victory in the process.
Instead, Judge and Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett turtled and coached not to lose, rather than to win.
Here is the NY Giants’ ensuing possession, following Bradberry’s interception:
1st down and 10 – Saquon Barkley run for one yard, Washington calls its first timeout with 2:12.
2nd down and 9 – Saquon Barkley run for two yards, Washington calls its second timeout with 2:09 remaining.
3rd down and 7 – Daniel Jones pass to Sterling Shepard incomplete. Clock stops.
4th down and 7 – Graham Gano makes a 35-yard field goal. Two-minute warning.
"“There was a point right there we want to make them use their timeouts,” Judge told reporters afterwards. “In a two-minute drive situation right there. Third down we had an opportunity for a completion to extend it over the middle right there, thought it was a good shot.”"
Huh?
If the NY Giants were not going to be aggressive and push the ball downfield, which an argument can be made was the right decision, instead running the ball to force Washington to stop the clock, it makes no sense to call a pass play on third down before the 2:00 warning.
The NY Giants’ offensive line was on skates much of the night, after captain guard Nick Gates suffered a gruesome knee injury, but Saquon Barkley did break loose for multiple explosive runs, so trying to run down the clock and betting on a big run was in a lot of respects the right move.
However, after Gano’s field goal, the wheels came off for the NY Giants’ defense.
New York was forced to burn a timeout because there weren’t enough men on the field.
And, of course, after Heinicke managed to drive Washington 40 yards over 11 plays in the final 2:00, Dexter Lawrence jumped offsides on a Dustin Hopkins 48-yard try, giving Washington’s kicker a mulligan that he drilled between the uprights from 43 yards out.
From conservative play calling to undisciplined mistakes, a lion’s share of blame for Thursday night’s loss falls on Judge’s shoulders.
The game management over the final five minutes of the game was among the worst stretch of coaching we’ve seen in the NFL in recent years.
Throw in failing to simply get enough defenders on the field and Lawrence’s penalty on the biggest play of the game, and it is fair to wonder what the heck the point was of all those laps during training camp?
It didn’t exactly cultivate a disciplined football team.
Things won’t get much easier for the NY Giants, who after next Sunday’s home game against the Atlanta Falcons face back-to-back tests at New Orleans and at Dallas, before hosting the Los Angeles Rams.
That stretch could easily yield a 1-5 start.
This was supposed to be the season where the NY Giants take the next step, that the organization’s investment in cap space and premium draft capital in playmakers began to pay real dividends. That Judge’s program began to take footing.
Instead, two games into the season, it seems that nothing has changed. That’s a bad sign for a second-year head coach, who in consecutive weeks challenged a touchdown that by rule he isn’t allowed to just because he wanted to argue with the officials and now was tangibly responsible for a division loss.
Sooner rather than later, it will be time to label this Giants team what it is: an undisciplined disappointment.
Matt Lombardo is FanSided’s National NFL Insider and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday. Email Matt: Matt.Lombardo@FanSided.com.