Week 13 takeaways: Giants building a winning program under Joe Judge

The New York Giants are building a winning program.

This seemed laughable two months ago when the club started 0-5 and looked overmatched in every game, but over the second half of the season, the Giants have established an identity, and have gotten more of their inferior talent base than anyone could have imagined.

That was clearly on display in Sunday’s stunning 17-12 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, where the Giants were double digit underdogs and won without their starting quarterback.

We’ve praised Giants head coach Joe Judge and his defensive coaching staff in previous editions of this column, and Giants DC Patrick Graham had a masterful game plan on Sunday, but one thing that stood out in Week 12 is how well New York did in the deal for Odell Beckham last year, a trade it was universally panned for.

In exchange for Beckham, the Giants received safety Jabril Peppers and a 2019 first-round pick (that was used on DT Dexter Lawrence) from the Cleveland Browns. To most football fans, those might not be big names, and the return seemed very light at the time, but those two were among the best players on the field against Seattle.

Peppers especially has broken out in 2020. He has developed into a disruptive force for the Giants and a valuable chess piece that can be moved all over the field. He had a monster game in Seattle, finishing with nine combined tackles, including a tackle for loss, and a sack of Russell Wilson where he ran over RB Chris Carson .

Lawrence’s value doesn’t show up in the stat sheet, but he is a critical player in their defensive scheme, as he played a big role in helping build the wall around Wilson that confused him all game. He has been a steady player all season long.

Without those two players, it’s hard to imagine the Giants taking the step forward defensively they have while on the other hand, the Browns have gone 4-1 since Beckham suffered a season-ending injury, and have not missed his presence on offence. Baker Mayfield has performed better without the No. 1 receiver in the lineup.

One year later, it’s clear the Giants are the winner of the Beckham trade, and it’s having a huge impact on the field.

No, Jets did not lose on purpose

The New York Jets had the worst defensive call in recent history during Week 12, sending an all-out blitz at Derek Carr without safety help that allowed for Henry Ruggs’ game-winning touchdown in the last minute of the game. This prompted many to wonder if the Jets tanked the end of this game on purpose to maintain the No. 1 overall pick, but there’s simply no way that is true. Why would a group of coaches who will not be back next season care if the Jets get the No. 1 pick? And why would the Jets play so hard to rally back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter, essentially win the game by stopping Carr in the red zone the series earlier, just to set up a tanking play one series later.

The only one to blame for the meltdown at the game was DC Gregg Williams, a man with a lengthy history of being over-aggressive in his coaching career. He made a clear strategic error with his play call and he lost his job on Monday as a result. Any other description other than Williams being foolish is simply wrong.

Belichick still has it

There was no larger coaching mismatch on Sunday than Anthony Lynn, arguably the worst head coach in the NFL, against future Hall of Famer Bill Belichick, which was reflected in the 45-0 final score. What was amazing about this game is the New England Patriots won by that margin with just 69 passing yards from QB Cam Newton, an incredible feat in the modern NFL . Belichick was able to win using all three phases — including special teams, as the Patriots scored a touchdown on a punt return, and a touchdown on a blocked punt which helped the game get out of hand. Overall, Belichick has done an impressive job this season, bringing an otherwise lousy roster to .500, and he reminded everyone how special he still is on Sunday in this one-sided game.

Eagles fans must hate watching NFL Sundays

We’ve spent a lot of time this season, analyzing the Carson Wentz mess in Philadelphia, but one area that must drive Philadelphia Eagles’ fans crazy has been their recent draft history at the wide receiver position. The Eagles took a lot of flak last season when they selected Stanford WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside in the second round of the 2019 draft, a few picks ahead of where DK Metcalf and Terry McLaurin were drafted. Those picks were hard to rationalize at the time, and it appears they made another massive mistake at the same position this season.

In the first round of the 2020 draft, the Eagles had receiver Justin Jefferson sitting on the board but decided to go with Jalen Reagor instead. Reagor plays the same position as Jefferson, and has been significantly less productive while Jefferson is having one of the best rookie WR seasons of any player this decade. You can play this game with a lot of draft picks, but Jefferson was a higher rated player than Reagor on almost every mock draft, and this is another example of the Eagles being too cute at the WR position.

Jefferson and Metcalf emerging as game-breaking players must haunt Eagles fans on a weekly basis. Eagles GM Howie Roseman needs to be under the microscope a lot more for the mess in Philadelphia.

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