Giant
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Giants drove into the red zone on their first three possessions of Sunday night’s game against the Browns, but they weren’t left with much to show for their efforts.
On a fourth-and-5 from the 8-yard-line on the opening drive, head coach Joe Judge opted for a fake field goal rather than trying for three points or leaving the offense on the field. Punter Riley Dixon threw an incompletion and the Giants didn’t score any points.
Judge settled for a field goal on the next drive, but went for it on fourth-and-2 from the 6-yard-line on the next drive. Running back Wayne Gallman was stuffed and the Giants wouldn’t score again until a field goal with four minutes left in the 20-6 loss. After the game, Judge explained why he didn’t take the points.
“Field goals weren’t going to win this game,” Judge said. “I’m not afraid to call things aggressively. I’m not afraid if I think we have a good scheme in the kicking game to call a fake. I’m not afraid to run the ball on fourth-and-one. . . . When you make calls like that, you let your players understand that you have confidence in them and that they can play the game aggressively. We have confidence in our players. I want them to go out and play aggressively. I can’t tell them all week that they have to go into this game with an aggressive mindset and then hold them back at some point where we feel like we have a chance to make a play.”
One can’t know how things would have played out if Judge opted to kick field goals in those two spots, but the way things did play out left the Giants unable to take advantage of Washington’s loss and push themselves back into first place in the NFC East.