As a disclaimer, there have been no reports of New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur being on the hot seat, but after a disheartening loss packed full of coaching mistakes to the Arizona Cardinals, you can justify the argument to contemplate firing Shurmur after this season.
On a 3rd-and-18 in the fourth quarter with less than two minutes to play, Shurmur drew up a play-call that left everyone scratching their heads. A pure draw play to Saquon Barkley that gained a whopping 3-yards put the icing on the cake for the Giants, sealing a 27-21 loss. To make matters even worse, the very next play for Big Blue was a try on fourth-down that resulted in a strip-sack for cornerback Patrick Peterson that turned the ball over inside the Giants’ 20-yard line.
Pat Shurmur on 3rd & 4th down play calls with just under 3:00 to play: "It played out exactly out I liked or I would've hoped."
Full explanation from Giants head coach here: pic.twitter.com/yEukLMAdYp
— John Chandler (@JohnChandlerNBC) October 20, 2019
Not only did Shurmur make a poor decision going for it on third down, but he had time on the clock and essentially gave the ball right back to Arizona, who kicked a field goal and put the game far out of reach. Let’s rewind for a moment, though, and consider the first decision of the match for Shurmur.
This is the third consecutive week that New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur deferred the opening kickoff and was scored on immediately. On Sunday, Arizona put up 17-points in the first quarter after Shurmur’s decision to put his defense on the field first. Ranking as one of the worst units in the league against a potent Cardinals offense featuring Kyler Murray, this decision was mind-boggling. He trusted his defense with no justification.
The New York Giants fought, but their head coach fought back:
Despite the Giants fighting to make a comeback, their head coach put them in a position to lose. On the last possession, he didn’t instruct kick returned Darius Slayton to take a touchback, which caused the Giants to lose seven-seconds off the clock and started at their 12-yard-line. An immediate disadvantage for the offense.
Add in the poor play-selection, and inexcusable draw plays on third down, and you have a coach that is incapable of leading a team.
Here’s a list of all the negatives Pat Shurmur has shown us through seven weeks:
- No disciplineÂ
- Bad play-calling
- Terrible time management
- No accountability in press-conferences or on the field
- Little positive emotion
- Daniel Jones seems to be regressing every passing week
- Players don’t seem motivated
- Rash decisions to play injured players (Saquon Barkley)
This list can go on, but the reality is, he’s not proving himself to be a quality head coach, and general manager Dave Gettleman needs to start thinking about this situation realistically.