On Sunday, the New York Giants found themselves alive in the NFC East race heading into the very last game of the regular NFL season. In order to advance beyond the regular season, the Giants needed the Philadelphia Eagles to beat the Washington Football Team. This would have given the Giants the division title, despite their 6-10 record.
However, the Eagles didn’t exactly come to play their very best, as they pulled Jalen Hurts in the fourth quarter of a 17-14 games, with the opportunity to win the game still in play. The final score of the game was 20-14 in favor of Washington, which meant the Giants did not advance to the playoffs.
After the game, Giants players were upset at Eagles coach Doug Pederson for pulling Hurts. This sparked controversy throughout the league involving the obvious intention to lose for a better draft pick, also known as tanking, even if Pederson said he was playing to win.
Giants fans, along with fans across the entire league, were not the only ones upset. Giants coach Joe Judge had his own critiques of the Eagles’ decisions.
“The one thing to keep in mind with this season is – we had a lot of people opt in. Coaches, players, that includes family members as well. To look at a group of men that I ask to give me effort on a day-in, day-out basis and empty the tank – and I can look at them in the eye and ensure them everything I can to put them at a competitive advantage and put them in a position of strength. To me, you don’t want to disrespect those players and their effort and disrespect the game,” Judge said Monday via SNY Giants.
“There’s a number of sacrifices made by players and coaches in this league,” he said. “There’s a number of sacrifices that come along with the family members connected with them. To disrespect the effort that everybody 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 and not doing anything to help those players win. We will never do that as long as I am the head coach of the New York Giants.”
