The Buccaneers hosted the Giants on Monday night and dominated the game-winning 30-10. The NFL point spreads all favored the Buccaneers, with the consensus at -11.5. Tampa Bay covered this massive spread with ease because of a lackluster performance from the Giants’ offense.
Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett took his last plane flight with the team back to New York as he was fired shortly after returning. It’s no secret that the Giants’ offense was atrocious, but was it really Garrett’s fault?
His play-calling was questionable at times, but the Giants seem to have a deeper issue than their former offensive coordinator.
Jason Garrett is Jobless
After the game, Joe Judge took the stand and gave his reasoning for removing the former Cowboys head coach from his coordinator duties.
He said, “We made a decision to move on from Jason Garrett as the offensive coordinator of the New York Giants. Look, I have a lot of respect for Jason as a person, as a coach. He’s been a tremendous asset for me as a young head coach. He’s helped our development here. He’s built very strong relationships in the building with the players, along with other support staff members. He’s done a good job putting the team first. I have a lot of respect and appreciation for everything he’s done for us.”
Judge noted that this is not a quick decision and one that has been developed for weeks. Judge expected to see more out of the offense coming off the bye, but that did not occur.
The Giants are in the lower third of the league in nearly every important offensive characteristic. The team has not seemed to find a rhythm despite having a former first-round running back and quarterback in the backfield.
Freddie Kitchens moved into an offensive assistant role at the beginning of the season to assist Garret. This was an indication that the pressure was building on the coordinator. Kitchens will take over the play-calling duties with Garrett being removed.
This was likely the organization’s plan if they were forced to remove Garrett in the middle of the year. Garrett was primarily criticized for his lack of aggressive play calling and lackluster innovation.
Garrett was not good during his time with the Giants, but there is a deeper problem with New York than the play calling.
The Main Problem
The main problem for the New York Giants has nothing to do with play calling. The offensive line in New York is atrocious, and they cannot win in numerous situations.
There were multiple times where the Buccaneers rushed four and got to Daniel Jones. The Giants left a running back in the pocket to protect, so they could not win with six against four.
The primary pressure came up the middle, which did not allow Jones to step up in the pocket. There are very few quarterbacks that can thrive with pressure in their face. Additionally, the interior offensive line has not given Saquan Barkley much room to run.
The interior offensive line was the main issue and something Garrett could not overcome.
