Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
With the #Eagles heading up the New Jersey Turnpike to face the #Giants, here are 3 things to expect from NY play-caller Freddie Kitchens after Jason #Garrett was fired
Freddie Kitchens now will take over the Giants’ play-calling responsibilities.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 23, 2021
With Jason Garrett out in New York as the Giants offensive coordinator, tight ends coach, Freddie Kitchens will become the primary play-caller.
Here are takeaways and observations from the move.
Jason Garrett is expected to return as the New York Giants offensive coordinator in 2021, but there may be a change in the power structure.
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New York Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett interviewed with the Los Angeles Chargers for their then-vacant head coaching job earlier this year, but was ultimately passed over.
With all other options having dwindled, it is now expected that Garrett returns to the Giants in 2021. However, there will be some changes, reports ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.
New York Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett is expected to return after a shaky season in which the team finished 31st in total offense and points scored, a source told ESPN.
Although Garrett will stay, there will be some changes to the Giants’ offensive staff, among them the possibility of internal alterations when it comes to the responsibilities of those currently on staff. Increased responsibility for quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski, wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert and tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens is possible.
Freddie Kitchens, you may remember, took over play-calling duties when Garrett had been stricken with COVID-19.
Tyke Tolbert, meanwhile, is a solid option for some power-sharing, but he’s beginning to draw interest for other roles throughout the league. Currently, the Minnesota Vikings have their eye on him as a possible offensive coordinator.
However things ultimately shake out, it would appear as if Garrett will make his way back to East Rutherford next season and resume his role as the team’s offensive coordinator. It is expected that they will get running back Saquon Barkley (knee) back, which would be a huge boost for an offense that was specifically build around him in the first place.
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New York Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham admits it’s a nightmare trying to stop Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson.
The New York Giants (5-9), losers of two straight, head down to Baltimore to face the Ravens (9-5) who are on a three-game winning streak. As on most Thursdays, the Giants’ three coordinators address the media.
The offense was run by tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens last week while coordinator Jason Garrett was dealing with COVID-19. Kitchens again pinched hit for Garrett, who is expected to resume calling the offensive plays this Sunday.
“Jason’s our play caller, our offensive coordinator,” said Kitchens. “I would direct all of those questions to Joe (Judge). We’re looking forward to getting Jason back. He’s been in every Zoom meeting with us. We don’t have a meeting without him. He’s kind of our leader on offense. I would direct all those speculative questions, not to dismiss it by any chance, to Joe. But we’re looking forward to Jason coming back.”
Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey’s units have been under-performing the past month which is uncharacteristic for him. That won’t preclude him from being considered for any head coaching opportunities that may arise after the season. After all, Joe Judge and this week’s counterpart, John Harbaugh, were both special teams coaches.
“My thing is I take care of the job I have,” McGaughey said in response to the prospect of taking the leap to the head coaching ranks. “I try and do the best possible job with the job that I have. The one thing that I’ve always learned in this coaching profession, all the jobs you ever chase, you never get. You take care of the one that you have and the next one will jump in your lap. I’m not worried about trying to chase a head coaching position.
“In God’s time, I will get what I want. I’ll just take care of the one I have now. Take care of the job that I have. Try to do the best that I can every day helping this team get better. If that opportunity comes, then it comes. If it doesn’t come, I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing.”
The Giants’ defense will be facing the unenviable task of stopping quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Ravens’ league-leading rushing attack. Baltimore averages 172.7 yards per game on the ground and have ramped that up the past three weeks, averaging 228 YPG.
The Giants have the sixth-best rushing defense in the NFL but have been giving up twenty-plus yards above their season average the last three games.
“You can try to turn him into a pocket passer,” defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said when asked how he planned on containing Jackson. “He’s faster than everybody else on the field. You have to start there. He’s faster than everybody else on the field. You want to take away what he does best, that’s what we’re going to try to do. Whether it’s keeping him in the pocket, making him roll to the right, left, whatever it may be. We have to take away what he does best. If he is going to beat us, have him beat us left-handed.
“He’s so dynamic, if I say okay let’s keep him in the pocket, if he decides he wants to go back 20 yards and get around our pocket, he can do that. You’ve seen it on tape. We just have to try and make him play left-handed and figure out the best way to do that. Whether it’s contain him in the pocket, force him one way or another, have somebody spy mirror him. We’re still working through that.
“Third down is a big day there. That’s where you get some of the passing game showing up a little bit more consistently. We’re working through that today. Unfortunately for you guys, I’ll have a better idea tonight than now. We’re going to try our best to limit what he does best. That’s what we’re going to try to do.”
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Whose stock is up and whose is down following the New York Giants’ loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 15?
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A Week 15 game against the Cleveland Browns was a true test for the New York Giants to see what they were made of.
With the game flexed into the Sunday night prime time slot and first place on the line, the Giants had a chance to show everyone that they belonged. Unfortunately, they laid a massive egg at MetLife Stadium in a 20-6 loss on national television.
The Washington Football Team lost, which dropped them to 6-8. If the Giants had won, they would have jumped back into first place. But with the loss, they are now in a tie for second place with the Dallas Cowboys at 5-9.
Next week could ultimately decide the fate of all three teams for the NFC East. If Washington wins against the Carolina Panthers, it could land them the division, especially if the Giants and Cowboys lose in Week 16.
The Giants will travel to play the Baltimore Ravens in a game that both has playoff ramifications for both.
Before the Giants head to Baltimore, whose stock was up and down after the loss to the Browns?
New York Giants head coach Joe Judge defends his team’s decision to be aggressive in Week 15, dismissing critics of the play calling.
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New York Giants head coach Joe Judge isn’t interested in hearing your criticisms over the team’s decision to forego two field goals in the first half on Sunday night.
On two separate occasions, the Giants loaded up and went for it on fourth down inside the Cleveland Browns’ 10-yard line. And on two separate occasions, they were stopped short and turned the ball over on downs.
In total, the Giants left six points on the board and missed out on regaining a second quarter lead, ultimately falling to the Browns, 20-6, in prime time.
“Field goals weren’t going to win this game. I’m not afraid to call things aggressively. I’m not afraid if I think we have a good scheme in the kicking game to call a fake. I’m not afraid to run the ball on fourth-and-one,” Judge told reporters after the game.
Facing a fourth-and-5 at the Cleveland 8 on their very first drive of the game, the Giants set up in field goal formation before fanning out. Punter Riley Dixon then uncorked a throw to a well-covered Nick Gates, which sailed over his head and out of the back of the end zone.
“Look, they did a good job. They obviously fell off and made the coverage. Mike (Priefer) does a real good job of coaching those guys. They were situational — there was a little confusion at first, but they settled on down. We thought we had a chance at it,” Judge said. “It was worth rolling the dice right there and playing to our defense. They made a play, we didn’t. That’s all right. I thought the scheme was sound going in and if we have something else, we’ll always look to use it in the right opportunity.
“I thought it was a well-designed fake. We’ve executed and practiced that consistently throughout the year. I thought the timing was right. You look to go ahead and just roll the dice sometimes and take a chance. You hit that thing, you’re the guru. You don’t hit that thing, everyone wants to second-guess your decision. I understand that completely. But when the coaches come up with a good scheme and we think it’s got a chance to be successful, we’re going to go ahead and play that right there.”
Two offensive series later, the Giants faced a fourth-and-1 from the Cleveland 6. This time they handed the ball to running back Wayne Gallman, who appeared to fall at the line to gain. The game officials ruled it short and it was not challenged.
“Look, I’m not afraid to call it aggressively,” Judge said. “We went into that game with that mindset. We have to do a better job of making sure that we coach the right way, execute it the right way and come out with the results we want. With that being said, we’re going to call this game aggressively and we’re going to play it aggressively. When you make calls like that, you let your players understand that you have confidence in them and that they can play the game aggressively.
“We have confidence in our players. I want them to go out and play aggressively. I can’t tell them all week that they have to go into this game with an aggressive mindset and then hold them back at some point where we feel like we have a chance to make a play.”
Asked if he would have remained so aggressive had he known Cleveland would only score 20, Judge stuck to his guns.
“You don’t go in with some sort of crystal ball and say they’re only going to score 20 points. We knew when we got down there that we were going to have an aggressive mindset to go ahead and finish it,” Judge said. “Look, that’s the way that you have to go ahead and play it sometimes. We have to go ahead and make the decision to be aggressive. Obviously, their team scored a lot of points throughout the year, with an explosive offense that does a very good job of moving it, sustaining it – they’ve really been on a hot streak lately. We knew coming in what type of team they were and we had to call the game a certain way.”
Even if the Giants had settled for two Graham Gano field goal attempts and he connected on each, the additional six points would not have been enough to shift momentum. And it certainly would not have been enough to keep the Giants in the game later.
Had New York scored touchdowns on each of those drives however, well… We’d all be praising Judge as a brilliant aggressive genius and calling for Freddie Kitchens to permanently take over for Jason Garrett, but that’s just not the way the cookie crumbled.
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New York Giants tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens admits it’s “ironic” to be calling plays against the Cleveland Browns in Week 15.
New York Giants tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens will take over the play calling in Week 15 against the Cleveland Browns following Jason Garrett’s positive COVID-19 test.
It will be the first time Kitchens has called plays since he served as head coach of the Browns a year ago, and that irony is not at all lost on him.
Freddie Kitchens on calling the plays for the Giants against the Browns with Jason Garrett out: "It's kind of ironic. But truly, it's just the next game."
— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) December 18, 2020
Despite the ironic twist befitting of 2020, Kitchens insists that the Giants offense will not change under his temporary leadership and that Garrett remains very much engaged with the team.
Freddie Kitchens: "Nothing's changing with our offense. Our offense is our offense."
Says NYG want to rely on execution.— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) December 18, 2020
Freddie Kitchens on if the Giants offense will change w/him calling plays:“Do you really think we would talk about that right now? Nothing’s changing with our offense. Our offense is our offense. We just try to execute on a consistent basis. I couldn’t be more truthful than that”
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) December 18, 2020
Ultimately, Kitchens says, offensive success (or failure) will be a group effort and his focus will be playing to the team’s strengths. How that looks with Daniel Jones potentially sitting this one out remains to be seen, but don’t expect to see any sort or major overhaul come Sunday night.
Although Kitchens will have absolute freedom to call plays as he sees fit, the Giants will likely remain a run-heavy, conservative offense that features receivers running the same handful of routes with no separation.
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A Week 15 matchup between the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns will be a revenge game for many — probably more than you realize.
The New York Giants will be entertaining some old friends when the Cleveland Browns come to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey this Sunday night.
Additionally, the Browns are going to see some familiar faces on the other side of the ball as well.
In fact, there are quite a few cross-connections here in Week 15.
Landry spoke for a lot of teammates who weren’t sad to see Freddie leave
One of the lasting memories of the Cleveland Browns frustrating 2019 campaign came in the Week 15 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Wide receiver Jarvis Landry animatedly argued with head coach Freddie Kitchens with several very interested Browns players watching closely.
Kitchens is now gone, while Landry is having a strong season on the vastly improved Browns. They’ll face off in New York on Sunday with Kitchens taking over the play-calling duties for the Giants with OC Jason Garrett sidelined with COVID-19.
Landry diplomatically expressed his approval of the team moving on from Kitchens.
“I was not opposed to it,’’ Landry said on Thursday when asked if he wanted Kitchens to get fired by Cleveland last year. “I can only do my job and trust that the staff and the organization are going to be able to put somebody in place, whether that continued to be Freddie or Coach Kevin (Stefanski) as it is now obviously, to make sure that we can get on the right track and be a winning football team.”
When pressed, Landry elaborated a little more on his rocky relationship with Kitchens’ coaching and the disappointing 2019 season on the whole.
“It definitely was a frustrating season for a lot of people,’’ Landry said. “That’s just kind of how the NFL is. It’s kind of how it works. Each game you go into, it is any given Sunday, anybody can beat you and you have to play your ‘A’ game. I do not want to go back too much into last year, but I just did not think that the season ended the way that anybody wanted it to.”
Don’t expect any grandiose gestures by Landry or the Browns, not in the manner of presenting the ball to Hue Jackson in the infamous Bengals incident in 2018. But do expect the Browns players to try and take out some pent-up frustration against their old coach.
With Jason Garrett testing positive for COVID-19, Freddie Kitchens calls plays against his former team
There will be a familiar person calling plays against the Cleveland Browns Sunday night when they face the New York Giants.
Freddie Kitchens was the head coach in Cleveland last season. He was fired after one year and hired by the New York Giants as tight ends coach.
Now, after offensive coordinator Jason Garrett tested positive for COVID-19, Kitchens will get the chance to call plays against his former team.
The Giants’ coaches and players did not meet in person on Monday or Tuesday. Per league guidelines, they worked remotely. The Giants did practice in person on Wednesday.
In another possible quirky coincidence, if Daniel Jones is unable to go at quarterback for Big Blue, the Giants would turn to Colt McCoy, who sttarted his NFL career in Cleveland and was there from 2010-12.
Per ESPN.com:
Kitchens’ success with the Browns late in the 2018 season earned him a promotion to head coach last year. Cleveland finished 13th in total offense during Baker Mayfield’s rookie season. He threw 19 of his rookie-record 27 touchdown passes in the final eight games under Kitchens, when the Browns went 5-3.
But Cleveland fired Kitchens after a rocky 2019 season in which Mayfield regressed and threw 21 interceptions.
First-year Giants coach Joe Judge had worked with Kitchens at Mississippi State and Alabama.
Kitchens’ reign in Cleveland was characterized by a dysfunctional offense that players such as Jarvis Landry said after the season had no plan after the first 15 scripted plays.
“We didn’t have a true identity,’’ Landry told cleveland.com on radio row at the Super Bowl in January. “We just couldn’t find a way to get on the same page and that hurt us.’’
Freddie Kitchens and Colt McCoy will get a chance to go crazy on the Cleveland Browns.
The Giants announced on Thursday morning that offensive coordinator Jason Garrett tested positive for COVID-19 and that he would work remotely for Sunday’s game against the Browns. The Giants released a statement on Thursday morning saying they were working closely with the league, but didn’t believe there were any high-risk close contacts.
Hopefully Garrett isn’t too affected by COVID-19 and is able to get back on his feet sooner rather than later. However, this does open the door for an interesting “revenge” game between a certain coach on the Giants and his former team, the Browns.
That’s right, the Freddie Kitchens revenge game everyone has been waiting for. Kitchens, who is currently the tight ends coach for the Browns, will be calling plays for the Giants on Sunday while Garrett is out. Kitchens lasted just one full season as the Browns head coach, going 6-10 after he led Baker Mayfield to the most efficient stretch of his career during the back half of the 2018 season as the Browns’ interim offensive coordinator.
The Browns are definitely better off with Kevin Stefanski, who currently has the team sitting at 9-4 and poised to make the playoffs for the first time since 2002 (!!!!!!!!!!), but that doesn’t mean Kitchens can’t try to inflict some good old fashioned revenge on his former squad.
And he might not be alone with his unquenchable, unspoken thirst for revenge. Since Giants starting quarterback Daniel Jones is dealing with shoulder and hamstring injuries, backup Colt McCoy may get a chance to start on Sunday.
Guess what team drafted McCoy back in 2010? That’s right. The Cleveland Browns. Weirdly enough, McCoy actually had a decent rookie season for the Browns before things fell apart for him. He averaged 7.1 yards per attempt that seasson, which was higher than Peyton Manning (6.9), Drew Brees (7.0), and Brett Favre (7.0).
How dare they get rid of a young prodigy like that. It’s time for McCoy show the Browns that they were wrong to get rid of him, even if it was a decade later.
Browns, be scared. Kitchens and McCoy are coming for you.
