Joe Judge has been the head coach of the New York Giants for two seasons, and has started 1-5 in each of them. The Giants did respond from their 1-5 start last season to finish 6-10, but this year feels different.
New York is one of the worst teams in the NFL again, having a defense that's as bad as its offense. The Giants are 27th in points scored and 29th in points allowed, part of a defensive unit that's ranked 22nd in pass yards allowed and 29th in rush yards allowed.
An embarrassing 38-11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams put the Giants at 1-5 again, sending Judge to a 7-15 record in his short career. The question of whether Judge is cut out to be a head coach is just one of the many problems in the Giants organization. Regardless, he's going to stay the course in the hope things will turn around like last year.
"There's a lot of ball left to be played," Judge said after the loss. "We're in Week 6, so to turn around and start tapping out now – I don't know what kind of mentality other people have, I don't quit things, these players don't quit things. We're not going to do that, so anyone who's got that mentality of 'woe is me,' what did you think was going to happen?
"It's the National Football League, teams are good. Our motivation is to improve and perform for the man next to us. I don't see any dip in how our guys prepare. They come to work – I tell you all the time, they go to meetings, they go to practice, they compete hard. I'm just telling you right now, we don't have a room full of guys looking around and wondering. We don't have a room full of guys waiting for next year. We don't have a room full of guys who are waiting for someone to show up and save us. The only ones who can make an impact and change what we're doing are all the men in that room – the coaches, the players, that's it."
Judge is banking on his hard working team turning its season around, setting the example left by him which he refuses to quit. How long are the Giants going to buy in knowing the same story occurred last year?
New York doesn't exactly have the easiest schedule coming up. The Giants' next four games are the Carolina Panthers, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- a potential 1-9 start staring them right in the face.
For now, Judge hasn't lost the team.
"We're coming back and we're going to work. We've got things we've got to improve on," Judge said. "We're not going to be licking our wounds around here. There's a lot of ball left to be played. Our goal every week is to go 1-0. Our goal is to get better as a team as the season progresses. That goal doesn't change.
"You talk about the big picture – the big picture is the little picture, that's next week. The big picture is how we handle next week, how we practice, how we improve, how we prepare and how we come out and we execute. That's where our focus has to be seven days from now. We've got seven days to get ready for another good opponent coming in here and that's where our focus has to be."