Joe Judge Throws Shade at Eagles, Vows Giants Will Never Tank if He's Coaching
The New York Giants and their fans are pretty upset today. Many feel the Philadelphia Eagles tanked their Sunday Night Football matchup against the Washington Football Team in a 20-14 loss. That defeat helped Washington win the NFC East and eliminated the Giants. New York head coach Joe Judge was not pleased.
On Monday, Judge addressed the media and -- while not naming anyone -- he was visibly upset at what he believes was the Eagles not trying their hardest to win the game. Judge said he thinks the players made so many sacrifices to complete the 2020 NFL season that it was disrespectful to the game to not compete hard for 60 minutes.
Here's what he said:
Joe Judge talks about the sacrifice it took to make this season happen:
— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) January 4, 2021
"To disrespect the game by going out there & not competing for 60 minutes to doing everything you can to help those players win - we will never do that as long as I'm the head coach of the New York Giants." pic.twitter.com/TXMZOumjZh
While I do agree with some of the sentiment, let's not pretend this is something new. Teams have been tanking for the good of their franchise for years. If you're not going to make the playoffs, there's absolutely no reason to win games. Improving draft position means a lot and can have a positive long-term impact on the franchise. A win in Week 17 over Washington likely wouldn't have meant anything for the Eagles, but a higher pick could help fill a major need.
The Eagles will now have the sixth pick in the draft instead of the ninth selection. That position cascades down through each round as well. It's incredibly valuable to a franchise.
I get why the Giants are upset about it, but they should be more concerned about the fact that they went 6-10 than what the Eagles did. In fact, had the Giants just beaten the Eagles in Week 7, none of this would have mattered. Instead they lost 22-21. Or how about their meltdown against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5 when they led 34-31 at the two-minute warning and somehow gave up two field goals in the final 1:56 to lose the game. Either of those wins would have won the Giants the NFC East title and home playoff game.
Judge can complain all he wants, but this happened because his team failed to take care of its business during the season. In the end, there's no rule that says the Eagles have to help the Giants make the postseason. The coach being upset about it is only deflecting blame away from himself and his team.