Judge eyes key conference games
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Joe Judge is still looking for his first win as coach of the NewYork Giants, but it’s probably going to come soon.
It’s almost a guarantee with four of the next five games against mediocre NFC East teams, starting Sunday at MetLife Stadium against Washington.
For now, the reality is Judge is batting .000. Five games, no wins in his NFL head coaching career.
In four of the games, the Giants had chances, including their best Sunday when they blew a threepoint, fourth-quarter lead and dropped a 37-34 heartbreaker to the division-leading Cowboys (2-3) in Texas.
The Giants have no one to blame but themselves. They made too many mistakes, which has been the common thread this season.
The errors seem to change every week. Good performance by defense. Bad performance by the offense, or vice versa. Penalties, blown assignments, turnovers. Round up the usual suspects.
It all contributes to being winless and seemingly out of the playoff hunt for what will be the fourth straight year.
The bright side is this is one of the NFL’s youngest teams, and the Giants are going to win some games this season. They play hard, they have some talent — not enough yet to be a contender —
and they seem to be learning.
On Monday, Judge said he was blunt talking to the team.
“To me, it’s about evidence on the tape, what we have to correct and what we’re doing well and what we can build on,” he said. “I’m not a rainbow-and-sunshine type of guy. I’m also not a browbeat you and rub your nose in it type of guy, either. This is what it is.
“Understand what we’re doing good that we can build on. Understand wehave to do, what we have to correct and clean it up. For me, that’s the best thing for guys to
respond.”
Defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson said the team is getting better.
“I thought the biggest thing for us is we just want to focus on getting wins, and keep improving as a team and just keep growing,” he said. “We know the wins are right there around the corner.”
What’s working: The offense finally produced. After being limited to six field goals the past two games, coordinator Jason Garrett came up with a plan that led to two touchdowns, a 2-point conversion on a pass to rookie tackle Andrew Thomas and four field goals from Graham Gano. The defense even kicked in with a TD by linebacker Kyler Fackrell on an interception return. The 34 points were 13 fewer than the team’s total in its first four games.
What needs help: No matter how much the Giants talk to quarterback Daniel Jones about avoiding turnovers, it’s just not working. He has eight turnovers in five games. The latest one came Sunday when he was strip-sacked by Demarcus Lawrence and the ball was returned 29 yards for a touchdown by Anthony Brown.
Stock up: Receiver Darius Slayton had his best game this season, catching eight passes for 129 yards. He lost a 31-yard touchdown because of a penalty.
Stock down: Safety Adrian Colbert picked up two penalties for unnecessary roughness, which probably will cost him some money. Markus Golden, who will probably play more with fellow linebackers Oshane Ximines and Lorenzo Carter out, got a fourth-quarter facemask penalty to ignite a Cowboys drive that tied the score at 34 with a field goal.
The Giants had a season-high eight penalties for 81 yards. Twoof the penalties nullified touchdowns and forced New York to settle for field goals. That’s eight points in a 37-34 loss.
Injured: Carter is going to miss the rest of the season with an Achilles tendon injury. He will have surgery soon.