New York Giants fire OC Jason Garrett

In the wake of their loss to the Bucs and their head coach's less than clear remarks about his coaching staff, the dismissal is not as surprising as it may seem

The Giants fire Jason Garrett

Jason Garrett, the offensive coordinator for the New York giants has been fired, the team announced Tuesday. Garrett who has been in the job for less than two years has come under heavy scrutiny having seen the Giants to an abysmal start in the 2021 NFL regular season. The Giants who currently have a 3-7 record lost to Tampa Bay on Monday night 30-10.

"We made a decision to move on from Jason Garrett as the offensive coordinator of the New York Giants," coach Joe Judge said. "Look, I have a lot of respect for Jason as a person, as a coach. He's been a tremendous asset for me as a young head coach. He's helped our development here. He's built very strong relationships in the building with the players, along with other support staff members. He's done a good job putting the team first. I have a lot of respect and appreciation for everything he's done for us." Judge also added that that the move wasn't related to Monday's result saying, "...is not a snap decision" after Monday night. I don't think there's ever an ideal time to make a change like this in a season."

Freddie Kitchens to fill Garrett's role for now

Giants' coach Joe Judge also went on to say that Freddie Kitchens will be involved in the play calling from this point forward. Kitchens, who is the former Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator and head coach, moves into a senior offensive assistant role. Judge did not, however, name a play caller publicly and implied that he could perhaps be involved as well."Everything is on the table," he said.

Regardless the reality is there is logic in the Giants' move. Under Garrett, their offense scored the fewest touchdowns of any team since the start of last season. Prior to his time with New York, Garrett was in fact the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys during an extended period of time.

Joe Judge looks forward and Garrett speaks

Discussing his overall view, Garrett pointed to the collective. "Ultimately, I'll make every decision based on what's best for the team long term," Judge said. "I feel we have to be more productive as an offense. Generally speaking, the offense's job is to score points. I don't believe we're scoring enough points. It's my job as the head coach to make sure I give our players an opportunity to go out there and make plays."

Garrett himself is actually a former player for the franchise and had enjoyed a close relationship with the owners. Some believe that was what gave him a shoe in the door in the first place. For his part he did state that he found the mid season dismissal was "certainly disappointing." He also expressed gratitude to the ownership for the opportunity. "One of the things that motivated me to accept this position was the opportunity to help rebuild the Giants into a contending team," he added. "We knew there would be many challenges. My expectations for our offense were much greater than what our results have been, and I accept full responsibility for that."

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Jason Garrett, The Giants and the truth of the matter

The reality of the matter is that the Giants have quite simply been one of the worst teams offensively since the start of the 2020 season, which interestingly enough, is when Jason Garrett took the job as the team's offensive coordinator. New York has averaged just 18.9 points per game this season, ranking 25th in the NFL on offense. For comparison, 2020's season - Garrett's first - saw the Giants at 31st in the NFL with 17.5 points per game.

On Monday, which was seemingly the last straw, the Giants finished with 215 total yards and only 66 rushing yards. Their 15 first downs was a season low, and worse still was the fact that of their 54 offensive plays vs.the Bucs only one gained more than 16 yards. In retrospect, the signs have been visible for sometime. As far back as week 4, Judge was questioned about Garrett's capacity. Judge refused to be drawn on the notion though, and instead insisted he's not making Garrett the 'fall guy' for the team's present situation.

"I've said all along, I'm responsible for everything on this team. I'm the head coach. I've never shied away from that," Judge said. "I don't point fingers, so I always start with evaluating myself before anything else."