The New York Giants have lost nine consecutive primetime games, a streak that head coach Joe Judge will be looking to end on “Monday Night Football” this week. The problem, though, is that the Giants will face Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — losers of two consecutive games.
Brady hasn’t lost three consecutive games since the 2002 season — his first full year as a starting quarterback with the New England Patriots — making the task even more difficult. Daniel Jones has played a significant role in the Giants’ primetime skid, having an 0-7 mark in primetime games.
“I really haven’t thought about it. I didn’t realize it until recently, but we’re preparing for this week,” Jones said Wednesday. “Each game is different. Each game is a different opportunity, so we’ll look to prepare for this one.”
Not only is Jones winless in primetime affairs, he’s 0-11 in games that start at 4:25 p.m. or later. Of Jones’ 11 career wins as a starter, 10 have come with a 1 p.m. kickoff time. The lone win Jones had after 1 p.m. was in his first career-start against the Buccaneers in 2019, when the game kicked off at 4:05 p.m. in a regional window.
Since Judge became the Giants coach, New York is 0-9 in games that start at 4:25 p.m. or later. Will New York change its preparation to end the skid?
Don’t bet on it.
“We’ve looked at that before in different places we’ve been and there’s been times we’ve altered maybe the time of day we’ve practiced in,” Judge said. “To be honest with you, we’re all kind of creatures of habit when you get to football. We talk a lot about specialization of training. Everyone’s got different ways of how they want to practice and do things. In the world of football, we’ve kind of found it best to just stay consistent with our plan.
“We have not changed anything specifically because of primetime games. I’ve been a part of that, it hasn’t always really made the biggest difference either way, to be honest with you. To me, it’s we’ll get prepared and we’ll get out there.”
Perhaps if the streak reaches double digits, Judge will change his routine.
