Joe Judge seems to have directed his last game in the NFL, a career that barely lasted two years as head coach of the New York Giants. An infamous play could have sentenced his fate.
It is natural that all teams in all leagues go through ups and downs, although the idea is to get ahead of difficult times, and in the NFL that is no exception, especially if it is a team that has won four Super Bowls and that lives under the constant scrutiny and demand of a city like the ‘Urbe de Hierro’.
In the final game of the regular season, in Week 18, the Giants played the Washington Football Team at home, MetLife Stadium, with the idea of at least having a decent closing before their fans, so that they return home with a smile, however, the opposite happened.
The New York team played a third chance and seven to go, from deep in his field of play, at his own 4-yard line, when 5:00 minutes remained in the second quarter, with the score 3-0 in favor of those from the US capital.
With all that context, and adding that the teams that already fight have a tendency to be daring, creative and that they dare to do spectacular plays and crazy to ‘sobarle’ a little the wounded soul of their faithful fans.
However, they never thought that head coach Joe Judge would send a quarterback sneak, that is, an extremely conservative move, not very showy and is typically used when a team wants to gain a yard for a first down or touchdown.
And yes, indeed, this led to the fans going crazy, but in the worst way. A feeling of boredom, restlessness, collective anger, a cascade of boos and shouts were a moment of venting, of catharsis after a season that went 4-13 in 2021, added to 6-10 in 2020 under Judge.
The decision to kick him out of the team seemed forced, coming on ‘black Monday’ (Black Monday), which is the first day after the end of the NFL season in which several coaching layoffs take place, as well as the type of Judge, with negative campaigns; however, it did not happen that way at first, although on Tuesday, after the announcement of the general manager’s retirement David Gettleman, decided that the disastrous Judge era with a record of 10-23, came to an end.
The Giants add five seasons in a row with a losing record, last qualified for the playoffs in 2016, the club’s only postseason presence since 2011, when the New Yorkers won their last Super Bowl. The last decade of the franchise has been gray and Judge’s play was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
One-time Super Bowl XLVI champion with the Giants, wide receiver Victor Cruz, famous for doing a Salsa dance in the end zone after scoring a touchdown, railed against Judge and his decision to be so timid, sending the wrong message.
“It’s probably the most bizarre play I’ve ever seen”Cruz told the New York Post. “As a player, if I’m on that team, It would have felt like we’d already given up. Like we’re trying to get through these last few games unscathed, relatively healthy, just worried about getting off the field of play.”
In the NFL there is something known as a ‘coaching tree’, This is generally defined as the series of assistants or coordinators of a certain position, who work for a renowned coach and that in the end they receive an opportunity as main trainers in other clubs, such as their branches or derivations.
Under this precept, Judge belongs to the Bill Belichick tree, coach who won six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots, with whom he worked oriented to special teams. That was the main reason why he was brought to New York, thinking that his philosophy was loaded with that I don’t know what about Belichick.
To Judge’s consolation, other emerging head coaches of Belichick’s Patriots have also had losing careers, just remember names like Romeo Crennel, Brian Flores, Al Groh, Eric Mangini, Josh McDaniels, Bill O’Brien, Matt Patricia, Nick Saban, although the latter made a name for himself in the NCAA with Alabama (despite the setback against Georgia on Monday for the National Championship).
Despite the bad seasons, the bad results of those coaches that emerged from Belichick’s tree, probably none of them will be remembered for such an infamous play like Joe Judge, so it would not be unreasonable to think that his short two-year career as head coach in the NFL has come to an end.
It is true that for the second year in a row the Giants led the NFL in injuries, which should give fans a lot to think about, but despite those absences, people won’t forget how that third-down play made them feel.
