Giants Country

Giants Head Coach Joe Judge Reveals Feelings About the Use of Analytics

Judge explained why he eschewed an opportunity to try a 56-yard field goal in the third quarter despite being deep in Falcons territory.

Patricia Traina

Giants Head Coach Joe Judge Reveals Feelings About the Use of Analytics
Giants Head Coach Joe Judge Reveals Feelings About the Use of Analytics /

Right from Day 1, New York Giants head coach Joe Judge has always insisted that every decision he makes will be in the best interest of the New York Football Giants.

But with the team once again 0-3 to start the season in Jude’s second year at the helm, the questions about some of his decisions have been starting to become more pointed and frequent.

This week, there have been questions about Judge’s decision last week to punt on fourth-and-4 from the Atlanta 39-yard line with 6:29 remaining in the third quarter of Sunday’s 17-14 loss to the Falcons down 7-6.

Judge, perhaps taking the advice of kicker Graham Gano given a crosswind that was present on the field at the time, opted not to attempt a 56-yard field goal, an attempt that is in Gano’s range.

“With the wind the other day, that wasn’t going to be the case because of the hard crosswind right there,” he said. “It just wasn’t a high percentage, and when you give them the ball at midfield, obviously, they’ve already made an advantage.

Judge, whose offense has struggled coming out of the gate, decided that he had more faith in the defense to make a stop.

“We got to a point in the second half, I was pleased with how the defense was playing. I thought they were in control of the game. I thought our offense was moving the ball effectively,” he said.

“At that time, there was wind at our backs, so it would’ve been in their face for the next drive. We punted the ball down there, we downed it where we wanted to inside the five-yard line. We’ve got to stand up on defense, hold the field position, force a punt with the wind in their face and then capitalize on good field position as an offense.”

The decision was a departure from what analytics suggest gives a team the best chance to win, but Judge claimed that analytics is more of a one size fits all type of tool rather than something that can be adapted to the moment.

“Analytics is just a tool,” he said. “It’s nice to look at the numbers and how they go through the flow of the game. But the analytics change based on the opponent, based on who you have available for the game and how the flow of the game is going, too.

“You can look at a stat sheet all you want. I promise you: If Excel was going to win football games, Bill Gates would be killing it right now.”

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The Giants instead pinned the ball inside the Falcons’ 5-yard line. But by the time the Falcons' drive was over, they had made it to their 37-yard line, a two-yard difference from where the previous Giants drive had stalled.

The sequence led to questions about Judge’s decision-making process, especially considering how in his first year, he seemed to take a lot more risks than he has thus far this season.

Judge disputed any notion that he’s dialed things back as far as taking risks.

“Trust me, I don’t live in a world of fear, I don’t, but I’ve got to make sure that every decision I make is calculated to put the team in a position for success,” he said. “There’s times I want to blow my chest out and say, ‘All right, here we go. We’re going for this one right here.’ That’s not always the best thing for the team.”

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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