New York Giants: Could Sunday be Pat Shurmur’s Final Game?

New York Giants, Pat Shurmur
Aug 17, 2018; Detroit, MI, USA; New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur during the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Giants find themselves at 2-7 coming off of Monday night’s loss to the Cowboys. They have lost five straight games, all of them by at least five points. Dating back to 2017, the Giants have a miserable 10-31 record.

They have not been a good team for multiple years now. Head Coach Pat Shurmur was hired in 2018 to turn the franchise around. He is yet to do anything that shows he is capable of doing that. Since taking the reigns, he has posted a 7-18 record. He has failed to put together a consistent offense that boasts playmakers, including Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram, Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard, and Daniel Jones. Not to mention, he had a generational talent last season in wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Shurmur has shown no signs of being the guy moving forward. There is a chance Sunday will be his last game as the Coach of the Giants, and here’s why:

Why Sunday Could be Pat Shurmur’s Final Game for the New York Giants

The season-long struggles

The Giants have been one of football’s worst teams in 2019. Their two wins have come against teams with a combined record of 3-14. They have a negative 79 point differential, the sixth-worst of any team in the NFL. The offense has eclipsed 30 points just once the entire season. They have lost games this season by an average of more than 14 points per game. Simply put: they’ve been horrible.

While not everything can be put on Shurmur, a decent amount sure can. Shurmur is the play-caller for the team, as he has been since he became the head coach. The Giants have averaged a measly 21.76 points per game since the start of the 2018 season. For a team that is loaded with offensive weapons, Shurmur has failed to get the most out of his players. There is no reason the Giants shouldn’t be scoring 30 points every week. The play-calling and lack of creativity from Shurmur are to blame for the repeated struggles.

The lack of accountability

As most fans have observed, whenever the Giants lose, Shurmur always has the same response when asked why the team lost. His response, “We need to get better,” has grown agonizing. Never has Shurmur put any blame on himself for a loss. If you want to be a good head coach in the NFL, you need to be able to own up to your mistakes and failures. Shurmur still has not figured that part out.

What a loss to the Jets would do

There are five teams with worse records than the Giants this year. They get to play one of them this weekend, the crosstown rival New York Jets. The Jets are coming off of a loss to a one-win Dolphins team that has been trying to lose all season. It is safe to say the Jets are arguably the worst team in the NFL, especially after last Sunday’s debacle. If Big Blue were to lose to a Jets team that failed to beat a team that is doing all they can to lose and prep for the future, it could spell the end for Pat Shurmur in New York.

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