The Philadelphia Eagles, winners of two straight and firmly in the NFC playoff picture, couldn’t have picked a better time to be facing the New York Giants on Sunday for their Week 12 matchup.
The Giants’ 10 points scored in a 30-10 blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night were a season-low. It was also the fifth time in 10 games this season that they were held to fewer than 20 points as head coach Joe Judge made the decision on Tuesday to fire offensive coordinator and former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett.
New York gained a measly 215 yards — another season-worst — of total offense on Monday with the lone touchdown coming off a gift of an interception that gave the Giants prime field position in the Buccaneers’ red zone.
And even that touchdown was a trick play to left tackle Andrew Thomas.
“We’ve got to do a better job of scoring points,” Judge said. “I know that sounds pretty obvious and to the point, but I want to keep it blunt right there. We’ve got to do a better job of putting our players in a position to make plays. We have good players.
“We have to put them in a better position to capitalize on it. We’ve got to make sure we sit down tomorrow as a coaching staff to understand how we have to play this game to give our players a chance to make plays.
“As a player, there’s some things I’d be frustrated with as well.”
Running back Saquon Barkley, back from an ankle injury that held him out five weeks, touched the ball just 12 times (6 rushes, 6 receptions). Perceived No. 1 wide receiver Kenny Golladay, who signed a four-year, $72 million contract this offseason, was targeted just twice, making one catch for 12 yards.
“It wasn’t enough,” Judge said of the looks toward Golladay.
With plenty of weapons for third-year quarterback Daniel Jones, Garrett didn’t seem all too interested in utilizing them — or showing any sort of aggression.
The Giants are the only team in the NFL that hasn’t scored 30 points in a game this year thanks to a red-zone offense that is the ranked dead-last in the league — they’ve scored just 12 touchdowns on 27 trips inside their opponent’s 20-yard-line (44.4%).
“I expect us to produce at a higher level, let’s leave at that,” said Judge, who contributes to the offensive gameplan but leaves the play-calling to Garrett. “My expectations are pretty high. I’m not compromising for anyone.”
“I’m going to watch the tape and evaluate everyone,” Judge said. “Every player, every coach, and make all the decisions that are best for the team going forward. So simply, everything is accounted for, everything is evaluated and everything will be evaluated going forward.”
This seems like prime time for the Eagles defense to have a big day on Sunday.
A version of this article first appeared on AMNY.com
