Joe Judge Weighs in on Why Some Teams Are Defeated Before a Game
Joe Judge knows what a blowout looks like.
Granted, he hasn't been on the losing end of many of those blowouts, but during his time spent on both college and NFL sidelines, he's learned to recognize some of the characteristics a team shows before being blown out.
One such characteristic that Judge is trying to make sure his Giants team doesn't fall prey to is viewing the opponent with stars in their eyes.
"There were times we saw teams that kind of came in too overconfident and too over-focused on just a couple of people," Judge said this week, adding that players can't take the field with stars in their eyes over the presence of one of the game's luminaries.
That, of course, might be a tall order for some of the younger players who grew up idolizing Bucs quarterback Tom Brady, who has been in the league since 2000 and who remains as bright of a star as any in the league.
Brady, a sure-fire Hall of Fame signal-caller, is widely regarded in NFL circles as one of the greatest of all time. Still, Judge, who for several years was on the same sideline as Brady when the two were with the Patriots, wants his players to view Brady as just another guy (JAG) who, like everyone else on the face of the planet, has his weaknesses.
Another potential pitfall Judge has seen cause teams to stumble is the external pregame chatter surrounding an upcoming opponent.
"I can recall games with Buffalo kind of circa 2014, '15, '16," Judge said. "There were a lot of times it was almost too much stuff pregame. You just kind of understood they're not tuned into the game. They were worrying too much about some matchup or something they may have heard or read about in the headlines that week.
"Normally when I see that from teams and you know they're not locked in for 60 minutes, of the situations that come up and the adjustments within the game, that to me is always the trigger."
Judge believes his Giants are locked in. The players and assistant coaches have gone about their business this week saying all the right things and heaping no more praise on the Bucs than they have any other opponent so far this season.
And he is doing all he can to make sure that his players don't get hit with a last-minute case of nerves related to playing under the lights in a game they desperately need to win.
"We have to be emotionally prepared as well and understand what kind of game it's going to be going in," Judge said. "Sometimes it's funny, you see a team even in Super Bowls where they're ridiculously long games, and there's just a different flow and feel to that game overall.
"You see teams come out two hours before the game, they're running around, they're sweating a lot, they're very adrenaline and amped up. You kind of look at them and just think, 'They can't sustain that.'"
Despite a season that's been riddled with emotional turbulence, Judge appears to have managed to keep his team focused on a week-to-week.
Outside of the Week 3 blowout loss to the 49ers, the Giants have kept it close in three out of their losses this season, losing by six points or less.
"We're always trying to bring it back with our players to you have your job, your responsibility, to focus on," Judge said. "Keep it to that. Let's make sure we focus on the keys and the techniques we have to execute within the game.
"If we can tie that together for 60 minutes, some of the results are pretty good. Look, obviously, we have things as a team right now that we have to keep improving on, keep working. But we always try to bring it back to those principles."
