Judges play in New York.
Many love New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. Big smile, big bat. And New Yorkers can’t get enough of Judge Judy, the Brooklyn-born, spit-fire TV judge.
But to stick around the Big Apple, you have to produce on the big stage under the bright lights.
That’s why Joe Judge is the one that simply doesn’t belong. He has failed badly as New York Giants coach and should be fired as soon as possible.
Many are expected to be sent packing on Black Monday — the day after the season when NFL coaches traditionally get whacked.
And without question, Judge should be among the let-go group when the dust clears.
The Giants are a disaster, an embarrassing football team.
Judge’s charade can’t go on any longer.
For the record, Judge became the first Giants coach to lose 13 games in a season. In two seasons, he is 10-23. The Giants are so bad that their fans can’t even laugh out loud at the terrible New York Jets.
In Sunday’s dismal 22-7 loss to Washington at MetLife Stadium, Judge delivered a last stinking moment to leave no doubt that he can’t get the job done.
Judge called back-to-back quarterback sneaks. The first one was on a second-and-11. And the second one on a third-and-nine.
Sure, the Giants were backed up on their own end zone. Still, few could ever remember seeing a horrid series of plays to get out of the hole in their own territory.
It was so bad that even Fox TV’s football crew chimed in with disgust. Enter analyst Daryl Johnston.
“I mean, really?” Johnston said on the broadcast. “You’re at the four-yard line, and you don’t feel comfortable enough in your own offense to run a traditional play?!”
Added Fox play-by-play man Chris Myers, “This is sad.” “That is unbelievable what they just did,” Johnston added.
As expected, Giants fans gave Judge the Bronx cheer as the boos rained down. After the debacle, Judge made little sense in explaining his decisions. “We were backed up, I wanted to get room,” he said.
Normally, analysts use kid gloves when talking about coaches and their decisions. But even Fox’s broadcasters couldn’t look away as if nothing happened.
Twitter went wild and roasted Judge, too.
If that was bad, the Giants’ ineptitude on offense has been on display this season. When the Giants scored their lone touchdown of the game, it ended a drought of 43 straight offensive possessions with no TDs.
Seems impossible, but that stat isn’t a typo.
For sure, the wheels fell off this bad boy. There’s no way any honest person could have watched this season and gotten a glimmer of hope for the next one.
The Giants finished the year with six straight losses. And what’s worse is they lost them by a combined score of 163-56.
The Giants finished the first 17-game NFL season with a 4-13 record. The horrible Jets finished with the same record. Yes, the team that hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 1969.
The Giants are a way better organization and shouldn’t be in the same boat with their co-tenants of the Metlife Stadium. The Giants have won four Super Bowls, the last one in 2011.
This just can’t continue.
The only thing worse than Judge’s last two seasons at the helm has been the four years GM Dave Gettleman has had leading the front office. Under his control, the Giants are a horrid 19-46.
He’s expected to announce his retirement rather than being axed for a terrible job.
Despite all the lousy losing this season, it wasn’t a forgone conclusion that Judge would be put out with Gettleman, the man who hired Judge.
Somehow, around Christmas, there was talk that Giants ownership was thinking about keeping Judge even after Gettlemen’s departure.
That seems to be off the table now. After an awful season like this, no one should be safe. The front office, coaching staff and roster must all be examined and reshaped.
Speaking of the roster, the Giants have seen quarterback Daniel Jones go backwards under Judge. Granted, he has been injured, but when healthy and playing, he was disappointing at best. The jury might still be out on Jones and his future as a star QB, but in the case of his head coach, the verdict is so obvious. The gaval should come down on Joe Judge.