The New York Giants are off to another slow start, and head coach Joe Judge has drawn criticism for some of the decisions he has made in the early part of the year. One of those decisions was punting from well inside enemy territory in his team’s latest loss, but Judge doesn’t want to hear about it.
The Giants punted on 4th-and-3 from the Atlanta Falcons’ 39-yard line in the third quarter on Sunday. They were trailing 7-6 at the time. Judge was asked on Wednesday if he uses analytics while making 4th down decisions, and he took the opportunity to poke fun at the stat nerds.
"… as a tool and go ahead and factor in how your team's playing at the time and how the opponent is as well … and also the flow of the game." -30-
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) September 29, 2021
Judge also said the wind factored into his decision and that he is not afraid of going for it on 4th down.
Asked Joe Judge about his conservative punting from the 39. He says "I'm not afraid to go for it on 4th down." Considers it case-by-case. "I don't live in a world of fear." #Giants
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) September 29, 2021
You don’t need analytics to tell you that punting on 4th-and-3 from an opponent’s 39-yard line is a bad idea — especially for a struggling team that needs a spark. It’s hard to win games in today’s NFL by playing that conservatively, and that is part of the reason Judge has only won six in his first two seasons.
A very similar decision to punt from a different head coach last week was rated the most “cowardly” in years. That tells you all you need to know about the call Judge made.
