NYG Postgame (vs. Titans) Transcripts: Head Coach Pat Shurmur -- December 16, 2018
Opening Remarks: The injuries from the game. Spencer Pulley got a calf, Russell Shepard has something with his leg, I don’t know much about that yet, and then (Antonio) Hamilton got a quad. Didn’t do anything well enough to expect to win, didn’t make plays, we didn’t run the ball, we didn’t stay on the field on offense, we had penalties, so we didn’t play well enough there. I thought on defense, they ran the ball, we didn’t tackle as well as we did in the last few weeks, which extended drives for them, and they beat us. There was a turnover there that turned into points. It was a close game and we just didn’t find (the end zone), and when you don’t get in the end zone, you can’t win. So that’s that.
Q: Any thoughts on the run-pass ratio? You only ran the ball 16 times, including the fake punt. They ran the ball 45 times. What are your thoughts on that?
A: Yeah, my thoughts on that are they were having success running the ball, keeping drives alive, we were struggling to stay on the field, there were some runs in there. Early in the game and throughout the game, we weren’t able to make enough yardage on the runs and so they did a good job, but then when we chose to pass it, we had drops and we did some things that couldn’t keep drives alive.
Q: What did you see as the reasons why the running game wasn’t able to get those first downs?
A: I think early in the game, they defeated us up front a couple times and we just couldn’t get any real traction running the ball. We obviously attempted to do it, and then we didn’t stay on the field on third downs either. Long list of things we didn’t do well that keeps you from running the ball more and getting to some of the things you want to.
Q: Were you impressed in the second half of how your defense fought through adversity to make some stops and give the offense the chance to have the ball?
A: Yeah, I thought we fought through the game. We fought all the way to the end on offense, as well. We just didn’t make enough happen, and so right is right, we didn’t win. We fought, but we didn’t win.
Q: You know there’s a risk-reward when you have a second challenge. What did you see when Henry stepped out of bounds?
A: Yes, I do. I saw obviously that the guy’s foot was out of bounds. When I see it, the explanation I got was, ‘Well, that’s not what the TV had.’ I don’t know where it came from, but I obviously saw that his foot was out of bounds.
Q: So you didn’t see that as a big risk to challenge?
A: No. When you see his foot out of bounds obviously, my view of it was out of bounds -- I think that should be zero risk in my mind.
Q: First drive of the second half, you get down there and you’re in third down, you’re in field goal range.
A: We threw an interception.
Q: Would you rather your quarterback make a more conservative decision to get points rather than driving it and turning it over?
A: No. We called a seven-man protection we had a route concept, they did a good job with the coverage, but obviously you don’t want to throw an interception.
Q: Why not run there and try to get a field goal?
A: I wanted to throw it there, that’s why.
Q: That was your whole reasoning behind it?
A: Yeah, I wanted to throw the ball. We certainly don’t want to throw an interception.
Q: Was that fake punt planned or improvised?
A: Pretty good, he improvised. Worked out well. Sometimes things go your way.
Q: There was a chance for the playoffs if a lot of things happened, now there isn’t. Do you sense a letdown yourself?
A: No. I just came off the field. We fought hard, we didn’t make enough plays to win. Sensing letdowns and all that, we’re not there. I expect this team to come to work tomorrow and get ready to play Indianapolis, who just had a nice victory against Dallas. That’s what I expect. Just like we’ve been trying to do the whole season, we’ll try to keep the noise out and just try to play football.
Q: What did you think of Eli’s performance? How much was the rain a factor as part of his evaluation?
A: Yeah, weather. We need to execute better in the passing game. We had some drops, there were some things that happened on some individual plays that obviously you don’t want to have happen, but we didn’t do well enough.
Q: You guys are eliminated from the playoffs right now with Minnesota’s victory. Any thoughts on how you play the last two games of the season to see some other combinations of players?
A: Certainly we will re-group and try to do what’s best to win the next game. That’s what our focus will be.
Q: You changed your activations of quarterbacks (Tanney up, Lauletta down). What was the thinking behind that?
A: Just felt like he was going to give us the best chance to win. That’s the reason.
Q: Was there anything this week or was it more based on what you saw last week with Kyle (Lauletta)?
A: Everything is connected, so this week, last week, just felt like having Alex (Tanney) up would give us the best chance to win if he had to go in and play.
Or did we just have a bad infrasquad Practice?
The Giants were down 3 scores
We had no points and like a 100 yds of offense in the 1st half. The Titans fortunately dropped a few interceptions that could have blown it open including a potential pick 6.
This is the same mentality that has had them talking about all of their “competitive” games when in reality this team has been down at least 2 scores to Jacksonville, Dallas, Saints, Carolina, Eagles, Atlanta, Washington, and now the Titans. That’s 8 games down 10 pts or more in the 4Q. I don’t really consider that competitive or close.
What is his standard? Hey, we weren’t down 20 at the half? How I see this a talking point in today’s NFL?
This franchise has completely and totally accepted losing.
People are asking if he considered the logic there (3rd and 18 on a short field) and just taking the 3 in the rain when you need points to settle the game down.
But nah. He felt like passing.
I am willing to give him another year but he scares the sh#t out of me with some of his decision-making and the fact the team came out flat today is a red flag. Tough to understand that.
When your team doesn't block, tackle, or throw the ball well, there's not much a coach can do to mask those deficiencies.
He's a good coordinator, not a good head coach.
When your team doesn't block, tackle, or throw the ball well, there's not much a coach can do to mask those deficiencies.
And when your team does nothing well, at some point it's fair to question the coaching staff. Especially if they've got a lifetime record that's as bad as Shurmur's.
And when your team does nothing well, at some point it's fair to question the coaching staff.
The team just lost a game and looked like crap doing so. His job is to get the team playing better ball. Commiserating with reporters and fans over it and sharing with them all his feelings and strategies is not going to help in that cause, nor will it help him keep his job.
Considering all the turmoil involved in the roster turnover and the fact that the job remains incomplete, I think Shurmur has done a fine job. And I'm confident he is the right man to get the Giants back to the Super Bowl.
Why - ( New Window )
It was a nice scissors route but the reason the guy was able to jump the route due to aforementioned factors above.
Translation: Throwing the ball there is flat out stupid.
It reminds me of the Parcells saying: When you throw the ball, 3 things can happen, and 2 of them are bad. Shurmur's game management is horrendous and it's killed us in multiple games this year and showed itself in all sorts of ways. Clock management, play calling, time-out usage, going for it on 4th down (or not) - he has made every mistake in the book.