When the New York Giants kick off the 2020 regular season on Monday Night Football, they will do so against one of the best organizations and best players in football history according to first-year head coach Joe Judge.
“Very simply put, this team defines continuity in professional sports,” Judge told reporters on Wednesday. “Three head coaches since 1969. . . They’re a tough team from a tough city. This defense is very talented. They have one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game.”
That quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, will be returning after sitting out the final 14 games of the 2019 season after undergoing elbow surgery. He will enter Week 1 ranked eighth all-time in passing yards (56,545), ninth all-time in touchdown passes (363) and eighth all-time in completed passes (4,651).
When Big Ben does ultimately call it quits he will be headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, much like his draft mate, Eli Manning, who retired at the end of the 2019 season.
The one thing Judge and the Giants have going for them — if you see the glass as half full — is that there is a lot of tape on Roethlisberger.
Joe Judge said there is a lot of tape on Ben Roethlisberger, and you have to prepare for all of it. He said the Steelers have been so successful because they can do what they want to do, and that's done by being physical first.
— Dan Salomone (@NYGsalomone) September 9, 2020
Monday night will certainly serve as a measuring stick for Judge and the Giants. They are squaring off against one of the best current defenses in the league, an extremely successful head coach in Mike Tomlin, a shoo-in Hall of Famer in Big Ben and a team that prides itself on physicality.
[lawrence-related id=655473,655471,655464]