Pat Shurmur Gives Giants Fans One Last Middle Finger on Way Out

You gotta give Giants coach Pat Shurmur one thing: his game plans the last two weeks have been spot on.

He's completely screwed the Giants in the process by finally realizing how to coach. But as they say, better late than never, unless you're a Giants fan. Then you're furious. After all, Shurmur has been a terrible coach for the Giants and most assuredly will be fired at the end of the season. But he made sure to screw the Giants one last time on his way out.

The Giants were 2-11 entering Week 15 and had the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft within their grasp. Dreams of picking Ohio State DE Chase Young, arguably the best defensive prospect coming out of college since Jadeveon Clowney, were dancing in Giants fan's heads. But now, after winning games against No. 2-pick rivals Miami and Washington, the Giants are tumbling up the draft board. And it's all Shurmur's fault.

Last week, he wisely game-planned for the Giants to run on the Dolphins No. 31-ranked rushing defense. It worked. Saquon Barkley ran it 24 times for 112 yards and two TDs and the Giants won.

This week, against a Redskins defense that is No. 28 in rushing yards per game, the Giants again gave it to Saquon, who ran for 189 yards on 22 carries. Yes, Daniel Jones had over 350 yards passing and 5 TDs. But Saquon was the difference maker.

Does it take a genius to know getting Saquon Barkley the ball is good? No. But Shurmur is 9-22 in two seasons as the Giants head coach, so fans had to hope he would remain inept enough to keep them in position for the No. 2 pick. Not so lucky.

Given how bad the Giants have been, and how little improvement they've shown since Shurmur became head coach entering the 2018 season, there's little doubt he'll be fired at the end of this season. But before he left, he made sure the Giants wouldn't get Young. Even worse? Now it looks like their division rivals, the Redskins, will get him. So it was one final heartbreaker for Giants fans during the Shurmur era. And this one might hurt longer than the two seasons he was the coach.