The New York Giants have made several boneheaded moves this year, but is there one decision that stands out above the rest? Well, if you were to ask Chris Roling of Bleacher Report, he’d tell you yes — one does, in fact, stand out.
In breaking down the dumbest move for each NFL team in 2019, Roling hammered the Giants for sticking with head coach Pat Shurmur instead of completely blowing things up for the second time in three years.
Pat Shurmur, who guided the Cleveland Browns to a 9-23 record during his two seasons as their head coach, seemed like an odd choice for the New York Giants before last season.
After he directed the Giants to a 5-11 record during his debut campaign, it was surprising that they didn’t yank the rug out from under him this offseason.
Instead, the Giants stuck with him, but they’ve gotten even worse. They’re now 2-8 heading into Week 12, which means Shurmur has a career record of 17-42 as a head coach.
The Giants’ front office hasn’t given Shurmur enough talent to compete in the NFC East, but his seat is getting warmer by the week regardless.
Roling makes the case that the Giants should have parted ways with Shurmur prior to the start of the season, which really doesn’t make much sense. Yes, the argument could be made that Shurmur should be fired now, but before the 2019 regular season even got underway? That arguments holds far less water.
If the argument is, “Shurmur should have been fired because he was so awful with the Cleveland Browns,” then every other head coach that’s come and gone in Cleveland, Bill Belichick included, should be fired based off that logic.
The Giants weren’t expected to compete in 2018 and it was foolish for anyone (myself included) to believe they were going to be competitive in 2019. The roster is as thin as paper, there’s been a quarterback change and injuries have only made things worse.
Shurmur will get one more chance in 2020, but unless he can finally get things turned around, then it might be the end of the line for him in East Rutherford.
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