What Joe Judge's Passionate Defense of Giants Program Was Missing
New York Giants head coach Joe Judge knew the final score after witnessing his team get thoroughly embarrassed by the Chicago Bears, 29-3 on Sunday.
He also said the effort wasn't good enough and that plenty of mistakes were made that cost the team an opportunity.
But where Judge likely lost people is in his continued insistence that the Giants, who after falling to 4-12 are assured of finishing with at least one fewer win this year than they did last season, are headed in the right direction.
"I know we've got the right foundational pieces there. I know we have some players in key positions who are guys that you can build with and keep carrying on," Judge insisted in an 11-minute response to a question about why the Giants fans should have faith in his leadership.
"I know we got the right temperament. I know we got the right culture in terms of teaching the players, which is why I don't come up here and try to assassinate some player because I think it's going to save my (butt)."
Judge pointed to the locker room culture, how players do extra work to get themselves ready, and how none of the players have checked out.
He referenced how no one is having fistfights on the sidelines during games or how no one has started planning a vacation or checked out despite the team being out of the playoffs or planning vacations with still time to go in the regular season. He praised the players' effort brought to the meets and the practice field every day.
But what Judge wasn't able to address in his lengthy and passionate response is why, week after week, these same Giants, who are supposedly practicing the right way and are doing things the way he wants them done, can’t seem to transfer those things on the field.
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To be fair, Judge’s Giants roster has been decimated by injuries. But so too have other teams who can score points on offense and even win some games. But if the team and the players are doing things the right way, the results should be there, regardless, or so you'd think.
And since the results aren't there, no amount of explaining by Judge is about to appease the frustrated fan base, which has spent thousands of dollars over the years on the team.
Judge, to his credit, has refused to stand before the media on any given day and put the players on full blast even though the performances might warrant it. He sees no point in airing out the organization's dirty laundry in public, though it has supposedly been a different story behind closed doors.
But you know what? Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells once said there are no medals for trying, a lesson that Judge, a Giants history aficionado, might want to revisit since teams don't get extra credit they can bank toward wins or placement in the standings.
The Giants, under Judge, haven't been able to do that. And not even Judge, who said, "You have to change how people think...how they believe in what you're doing," has been able to explain why the record is what it is.
That's why at the end of the day, people are going to be reluctant to believe that the Giants are in a better place despite what their record says.
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