Giants coach Joe Judge puts Jason Garrett, assistant coaches on hot seat after loss to Bucs

TAMPA, Fla. – Perhaps we'll look back at this as the breaking point for Giants coach Joe Judge, on a Monday night against the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when his team was ultimately humbled on national television.

The game was still there for the taking, and the Giants fumbled.

Not literally, of course, but figuratively: it was fourth-and-1 from the Buccaneers' 25-yard line, and the Giants, trailing by seven points, faced what you can arguably call the biggest play of the season.

And, for some reason, unbeknownst to anyone not on the Giants' sideline or in the booth, the play called for Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney to come off the field, replaced by reserve receiver Collin Johnson and reserve tight end Chris Myarick.

We all know what was about to happen next.

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Daniel Jones was pressured by Devin White. His hurried throw skipped at the feet of Johnson. The Giants turned possession over on downs and the Tom Brady-led Buccaneers went on to score two more touchdowns as part of their run of 20 unanswered points in handing Big Blue a 30-10 defeat at Raymond James Stadium.

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Before that play, with 12:27 left in the third quarter, the Giants still had a chance.

And then, inexplicably, they didn't. The Giants were knocked back and sent reeling to their seventh loss in 10 games, squashing any optimism coming out of the bye week that they were poised to make a playoff run in the season's second half.

By the time Judge reached his postgame news conference, about 30 minutes after the final whistle, his proverbial pot was about to boil over.

Judge point-blank put his coaching staff on notice, and it’s not a stretch to believe offensive coordinator Jason Garrett was in the crosshairs. Whatever comes from that remains to be seen, but Judge was adamant: the Giants have talented players on offense, and when you're not scoring points for 26 games, something has to change.

When Golladay and Toney are not on the field for the most important plays, something is wrong. Judge said the Giants have to put players in better position to succeed, and Monday night, albeit a recurring theme, they did not.

“I have faith in all the people on our team,” Judge said. “Players, coaches, everyone. We’ll assess everything as a team and make any move we need to going forward."

Is this Judge feeling the heat himself? Maybe. He sees a product that has not come together the way he expected, the way he promised it would. Chalk September up as an extension of the preseason, the Giants said. That's the way New England treats it, and Judge understands there is worth in giving a team – especially a building one – time to find itself and develop.

But we're approaching Thanksgiving now, and the argument can be made that the Giants have been too patient in waiting for things to course-correct.

They don't have all the pieces, that's for sure. This roster still needs work, and glaring holes on the offensive line – Andrew Thomas is the lone cornerstone after all the promises from general manager Dave Gettleman to fix the position once and for all – and with the pass rush remain significant issues.

To hear Judge after Monday night's loss, though, it's time for the coaches to take ownership of the situation, and that starts with the head coach. If the Giants are going to fail on 4th-and-short, they can't fail with the wide receiver they are paying $72 million and the wide receiver they selected in the first round on the sideline.

If Jones is going to be evaluated as a franchise quarterback, give him the chance to make plays with Golladay and Toney instead of backups – especially when they're healthy.

“Put that down. You guys can write that tonight,” Judge said. “The players gotta execute. That’s their job, right? It’s our job to teach, it’s their job to go out there and execute. But we gotta make sure we’re putting them in position to have success. That��s gotta be consistent. You go ahead and write that down. I’m not going to debate that.”

Golladay was targeted twice, and when that stat was brought up to Judge, his reply spoke volumes about the current plight of the offense.

“It wasn’t enough,” Judge said.

Thomas, the Giants' left tackle, got his first career touchdown catch against the Bucs when he reported as an eligible receiver. Golladay and Toney have not scored yet this season.

"We've got to do a better job of scoring points. I know it sounds pretty obvious," Judge said, adding: "I'm just going to keep it very blunt right there: we've got to do a better job of putting our players in position to make plays. We have too many good players."

So this is where the Giants are now: 3-7 and in the basement of the NFC East, on the heels of a week in which the Philadelphia Eagles are coming to East Rutherford on Sunday on a hot streak, and Washington is on a two-game winning streak, including a victory over the same team that whacked Big Blue on Monday.

Whatever changes Judge is considering, this can't be about saving face, even when the time has come for all involved to start producing in order to save their jobs.

Judge still believes in what he is trying to build here, and there's some truth in having to figure out who is part of the solution, who is part of the problem, and how to get things turned around before it's too late.