During Monday night’s game between the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons, ESPN cameras caught Giants head coach Pat Shurmur openly voicing frustration with Eli Manning.
The Giants went for it on fourth-and-goal, and Shurmur drew up a solid play that sprung Odell Beckham Jr. wide open. Only, Manning either didn’t see Beckham or read the play completely wrong and threw to a tight end, Scott Simonson. Not only did the play not work, but it was somewhat of a miracle that Manning’s pass wasn’t intercepted.
After the play concluded, ESPN replayed Shurmur’s reaction, which included him yelling, “What? Throw it to Odell!”
The coach just couldn’t believe what happened, and it was the second week in a row that cameras had caught him complaining about a poor throw/decision from Manning.
On Tuesday, during his press conference, Shurmur addressed the situation with a quip:
Shurmur on TV cameras catching him complaining about Eli Manning passes for second straight week: "I guess everybody's into lip reading now.''
— Paul Schwartz (@NYPost_Schwartz) October 23, 2018
Yes we are.
There’s nothing quite as dramatic as watching a meltdown on live television, and the Giants have provided us with more than a few of those the past couple of years.
With that in mind, Shurmur would be wise to keep his thoughts to himself, or simply remove the object of his scorn and give the Giants a real chance on offense.