New York Giants coach Joe Judge did not hold back when alluding to the Philadelphia Eagles’ effort against Washington on Sunday night.
The Giants needed the Eagles to beat Washington to give New York the division title, and the game was close throughout. However, Philadelphia was widely criticized for benching quarterback Jalen Hurts in favor of Nate Sudfeld in a game the Eagles were only losing by a field goal. Some outright accused the Eagles of tanking in a game with major playoff implications.
Judge seemed to agree with those accusations. In a lengthy speech Monday during his news conference, Judge talked about all the sacrifices that players and their families had gone into to ensure that the season happened during a pandemic. Then, without explicitly mentioning the Eagles, he made clear that he was furious with their effort, and the Giants would never do such a thing.
Joe Judge talks about the sacrifice it took to make this season happen:
"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
— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) January 4, 2021
“To disrespect the effort that everyone put forward to make this season a success for the National Football League, to disrespect the game by going out there and 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,” Judge concluded.
It’s pretty clear that Judge thinks the Eagles did disrespect the game by how they handled the season finale. Doug Pederson tried to defend how he coached, but few are going to buy it. Frankly, Judge has a point, and his players probably agree with him. Could they have won more games and handled their own business? Of course. And the Eagles have the right to handle their personnel the way they want to. But it’s an awful look when a team gives off the impression that it’s not playing to win in such a meaningful game.
