By Jordan Long
(update at 3:38 Mountain Time Joe Judge was fired as Head Coach of the New York Giants)
Yesterday, Black Monday came and went in the NFL as franchises fired their current Head Coaches. Among the coaches let go were Mike Zimmer, Brian Flores, and Matt Nagy. One name was a surprise who kept his job, Joe Judge. He is the Head Coach of the New York Giants.
Judge has been the New York Giants Head Coach since the 2020 season. He replaced Pat Shurmer who spent two disastrous years with the Giants. The Giants thought Shurmer could be the right man for the job since he had Head Coaching experience with Cleveland from 2011 to 2012. The Browns were 9-23 under Shurmer. The Giants ended with the same record that he had with the Browns and decided to fire him following the 2019 season when they went 4-12.
Judge was a surprising hire. He hadn’t been an offensive or a defensive coordinator in the league. Judge spent 2015 to 2019 as the special teams’ coordinator for the New England Patriots. He had never called plays. That didn’t matter. The Giants hired him anyway.
It hasn’t worked out to this point. Judge is an awful 10-23. The Giants have not looked competitive. That doesn’t seem to matter right now to President and co-owner of the New York Giants Jim Mora, who is bringing back Judge for another season.
Judge hasn’t shown any signs of improving the football team. This year on offense, New York was 31st in total yards, passing the football, and points. They average 287.3 yards per game. In the passing game, they gain 188 yards per game. This offense couldn’t put points on the scoreboard totaling 15.2 points per game. The run game was the only area not totally awful, gaining 99.3 yards per game, 24th in the NFL.
The defense was better than their offense. They gave up 354.8 yards per game 21st in the NFL. The defense permitted the 15th most passing yards at 225.8 yards per game. The rush defense permitted teams to run for 129 yards per game, 25th in the NFL. Teams scored on average 24.5 points per game which ranks the Giants as the 23rd scoring defense in the NFL.
Looking at all this, it is shocking Joe Judge stayed. The Giants, though, will have a new general manager after Dave Gettleman decided to walk away. According to UPI.com, Gettleman said, “It was a privilege to serve as the general manager of the New York Giants the last four years of my career with this franchise. We obviously have not had the on-the-field success I expected, and that is disappointing. However, I have many fond memories here, including two Super Bowl victories, and I wish the team and organization only the best moving forward. There are many good people here who pour their souls into this organization. I am proud to have worked alongside them.”
The Giants will look for a new General Manager. This doesn’t mean Judge is safe after the 2022 season. He should be the coach in 2022 unless the new general manager decides Judge is gone before that to bring in his own guy, but most likely that won’t happen. Another losing year, missing the playoffs for the 6th straight year, and Judge will be gone. He is lucky he wasn’t fired on Black Monday even though he probably should have been.
Check out The Sports Arena every Monday and Wednesday at 10 PM Eastern time on Facebook at Sideline Sports | Facebook or on twitter @sidelinesport1
Leave a Reply