Shurmur Explains Fourth-Quarter Draw Call

Here's what Pat Shurmur was thinking when he made his head-scratching fourth-quarter decisions to run a draw on 3rd and long and then go for it when the draw didn't work out.

Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Despite the rain, despite the sacks and yes, even despite the turnovers, the Giants had a chance going into the fourth quarter to sneak by with a win.

After running back Saquon Barkley scored on a 7-yard touchdown run with 8:19 left, all that separated the Giants from tying the Cardinals was three points.

But then head coach Pat Shurmur, who continues to serve as the team’s offensive play-caller, did something that left a score of onlookers perplexed.

The Giants stopped the Cardinals on the ensuing drive, but before they punted, Shurmur called a timeout, a curious decision considering they had three timeouts plus the 2:00 warning.

But that decision as nothing compared to what ensued.

When the Giants got the ball back with 4:23, Daniel Jones connected with Bennie Fowler for 13 yards. But then on the next play, Jones was sacked for a negative eight-yard loss, creating a 2-and-18 from the Giants’ 30-yard line.

Jones tried to find Golden Tate over the middle to no avail, which brought up a 3-and-long. But instead of calling a pass play, Shurmur hoped to catch the Cardinals defense napping by calling a delayed draw to Saquon Barkley.

“I had planned to go for it,” Shurmur explained after the game. “If it was going to be soft (coverage), you see typically against two-deep, and that’s why we did it.”

Shurmur then went on to point out that the Cardinals had had success against the Giants earlier in the game running the same type of play against them, and added that on that play, he wanted “to keep Saquon involved,” adding, “We’ve seen where he’s able to do that.”

He also admitted that Jones called an audible and had made the right decision.

“Yeah, it was a soft shell. We didn’t block them well enough to pop it through like we would like to.

When Barkley came up way short of the first-down marker, instead of punting the all and trusting the defense to make a stop, Shurmur went through with his decision to go for it.

“Because it was going to play out the way I thought,” he said in explaining why he didn’t punt. “Stop them, make them kick a field goal at the very least, then we go down and score a touchdown. Plus, I wanted to get a chance to make it on 4th-and-15. That’s why.

“And that’s the way it played out, right? We had the ball with the chance to go down and score a touchdown to win the game. That’s how it played out, and we didn’t do it.”

Barkley praised the gutsy decision, even though it didn’t play out as the Giants hoped. “I think it’s a great call,” Barkley said. “We knew we were going to be in two-down territory. They played it well. If they drop back, like most teams on third-and-18, I think you’ve got one of your best playmakers on the field with the ball in his hands."

Other players weren’t so forthcoming with praise on that third-down call.

“You’re trying to take me to dangerous waters,” said receiver Golden Tate. “Look, I have complete trust in this organization, and when they call plays, my job is to run them.

“(Shurmur) is the leader of this organization, and I’m not going to question anything he does. He had his reasons, and my job is to run the plays that he calls. I’m not the head coach- maybe one day I might be one, but it’s his decision. That’s the decision he thought that was going to give us a chance, and we ran it.” 

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