New York Giants coach Joe Judge made a pretty brutal coaching mistake in the second half of his team’s game against the Denver Broncos.
Trailing 10-7 in the third quarter, the Giants needed to make a defensive stop when the Broncos went for it on 4th-and-1 from the New York 4-yard line. Their efforts came up short, as Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater found tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, who dove for the pylon and was ruled in for the touchdown.
Judge immediately threw the red challenge flag, contending that Okwuegbunam was short of the end zone. There’s one problem with that: All scoring plays are automatically reviewed by the booth, a rule that has been in place since the 2011 season. There was no need for Judge to challenge at all.
The Giants were ultimately assessed a timeout due to Judge’s error. To make matters worse, the call on the field was confirmed on review, and replays showed Okwuegbunam had clearly scored.
This is just a brutal error on Judge’s part. There’s nothing obscure about the fact that all scoring plays are reviewed. TV broadcasters say as much after every remotely controversial touchdown, and most fans watching at home know that’s the case, too. It’s a rule that has been in place for the entire duration of Judge’s NFL coaching career, as he joined the New England Patriots in 2012.
Judge is in his second season as head coach, and there was some turmoil in his first year already. Judge may have landed the Giants job with the recommendation of Bill Belichick, but you just know Belichick would never make a mistake like this.
More must-reads: