Giants vs. Bucs: Don’t tell Joe Judge Tampa Bay has lost back-to-back games

NFL head coaches are famous for over-selling the positive characteristics of whatever team they are facing that week. When they get done with their mid-week summation of their upcoming opponent, you always have to believe that foe is an unbeatable juggernaut.

Well, this week the New York Giants face the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. Let’s just says Giants coach Joe Judge is laying it on thick when it comes to praising the Bucs.

“This is obviously one of the best teams in football. It’s got some of the best players to play this game ever at their positions and some great coaches as well,” Judge said on Wednesday.

Judge called Bucs quarterback Tom Brady “obviously a great, great player.”

Which is, of course, true.

“You’ve got to play 60 minutes because that’s how he’s going to play the game. He’s going to play it one play at a time and take what you give him, and he knows the answers to all the tests before they happen, so you’ve got to go out there and you have to execute,” Judge said. “Look, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t see much of a difference in this guy in terms of how he’s playing from when I first saw him with my own eyes back in 2012. He’s moving as well now as ever. He throws as accurate a ball as there’s ever been in this league. He gets the ball out of his hands extremely fast. He knows where to go. He diagnoses the defense. He throws a very catchable ball, too. That’s something that some guys can throw the ball hard, he throws a very catchable ball. You don’t see a lot of drops coming off the receiver’s hands from anyone who he’s ever played with. That’s cause just the way that ball comes out and how accurate it is that allows guys to catch it in stride and keep on moving.”

On the Tampa Bay offense overall:

“They’re very, very balanced, they have a very good run game. The screen game is also an extension of the run game, it’s very effective in terms of keeping the ball moving, staying balanced. They’ve got explosive weapons all over the field. We all know the quarterback is a great player. They do a great job offensively with not just the explosive plays, but it’s just staying balanced, staying ahead of the sticks and scoring points, obviously. There’s a reason these guys are top of the league with scoring points and that’s really the down in and down out execution.”

On the Tampa Bay defense:

“Todd (Bowles) a great game plan coach and when I say that I mean, this guy knows how to break you down as a team and knows how he wants to attack you going into the game. You have to understand that you get in the game, it’s not always going to be what you saw on tape directly from another game. You have to see how he sees you and how he’s going to attack you. He does a tremendous job getting his guys playing aggressive, make a lot of plays in the back end because of the pressure they make up front.”

How do the Giants win?

“We’re going to need a great week of preparation,” Judge said. “It’s a very good situational team, it’s a very explosive team in all three phases. It’s going to take our best football Monday night and it’s going to take a solid week of preparation to get ready for them.”

Listen to Judge and you would never know that the Bucs are “only” 6-3 and coming off back-to-back losses.