The season for Joe Judge and the Giants already looks over before October. Three weeks into the schedule, there’s plenty room for concern with this team.
For the second straight week, the Giants lost on the final play of the game. Younghoe Koo kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Atlanta Falcons to a 17-14 win. The game winner dropped Big Blue to 0-3 on the season.
The injuries are piling up, they’re play on both sides of the ball has been inconsistent, and they have no identity. Judge talks a big game when it comes to discipline. What we’ve seen, however, is a poorly-coached team that’s arguably amongst the most undisciplined in the league.
Moreover, after the game, Judge told the media he was pleased with a lot of things the team did.
I just need to know what game was he watching? Because it couldn’t have been the same one we all sat through.
Once again, penalties played a large role. The Giants committed eight penalties this week, a handful of them led to points for Atlanta.
Similar to Week 2 in Washington, the Giants did themselves no favors with their mistake-prone style of football.
Penalties, dropped passes, poor clock management — at what point does this all stop? At what point does this team look themselves in the mirror and say enough already? And at what point does Judge stop telling everyone they’re okay? Because we know better.
What we know is this isn’t the team Judge told us we’d get with him as head coach.
“We will punch you in the nose for 60 minutes, we will play every play like it has a history and a life of its own, with a relentless, competitive attitude,” Judge said at his January 2020 introductory press conference. “We will play fundamentally sound, we will not beat ourselves. That is our mission right here.”
Where’s that team? Because they’re not here yet.
This isn’t about it being only three weeks into the season. For the fan base, it’s about years of futility.
Because from Ben McAdoo to Pat Shurmur, and now Joe Judge. From Jerry Reese to Dave Gettleman — the only constant with this franchise is the poor product they keep putting on the field.
On this day, the Giants added Eli Manning to its Ring of Honor at MetLife Stadium. It was a great reminder to the two Super Bowl trophies Manning helped win for the franchise. But the energy from the halftime ceremony quickly evaporated in the second half.
Looking ahead, for the Giants, it doesn’t get any better with the schedule. Their next two games are on the road, at New Orleans and Dallas. They’ll come back home for the Los Angeles Rams and Carolina Panthers. Then it’s back on the road for a Monday night game at Kansas City.
Judge is in year two of his plan to rebuild the Giants with his brand of football. It’s clear he still has plenty of work to do.
Because what we’re watching every week is a tired product. And frankly, we’re tired of watching.
Image: AP Photo/Seth Wenig
