Giants’ Joe Judge ripped for calling inexplicable QB sneak on third-and-9: ‘This is sad’

This play call may give Giants fans the big blues.

The Giants are quickly spiraling down to a 4-13 season, and a few play calls on Sunday perfectly encapsulated the radical, hilarious ineptitude of New York’s offense and 

Trailing 3-0 late in the second quarter, the Giants started their drive deep in their own territory. On a third-and-9 from their own 4-yard line, the Giants offense dug deep into their bag of tricks and called a … quarterback sneak?

MORE: Will Joe Judge hit the Black Monday list?

To make matters even more hysterical, the Giants preceded their third and-9 sneak with a second and-11 sneak — and that followed a false start penalty that pushed them to within inches of the goal line.

Fox commentator Chris Myers put it plainly: “This is sad.”

To try and apply logic to an otherwise illogical situation: The Giants’ offense is reaching peewee football league levels of ineffectiveness, and not willing to take a risk deep in their own territory in a tight game, Judge likely wanted to give his punter some more breathing room.

Judge has been a lightning rod of criticism since stepping foot in New York, and unfortunately for the Bill Belichick disciple, he doesn’t have the record, pedigree or results of his mentor to give him the necessary slack for a bizarre play call like this. 

Reports indicate that owner John Mara may be willing to give Judge another shot in 2022, this time with a GM of his own choosing. Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported Sunday that Kevin Abrams, Giants assistant GM, may be Judge’s choice.

It looks like Giants fans were taking this news well:

Elsewhere, NFL analysts Judge was ripped for the decision to punt before the punt: