New York Giants fans overwhelmingly believe J.J. McCarthy should be the team’s quarterback beginning this Sunday against the Houston Texans.
Eighty-one percent of the 751 voters in our poll think McCarthy should replace Jameis Winston as the starter when the Giants face the Houston Texans this Sunday.
Head coach John Harbaugh wasn’t ready to make that decision in his post-game press conference.
“I can’t answer that now,” Harbaugh said. “The game just ended ten minutes ago.
“It’s not even up for discussion or conversation right now. We’ve got to go back and go to work. I have no problem with Jameis whatsoever. I love the way he competes, I love the way he fights, all those kind of things. He was up and down today for sure, but those things will all be decided not ten minutes after a game.”
It is, though, a decision Harbaugh has to make.
When the Giants acquired McCarthy from the Minnesota Vikings a few weeks ago for a fifth-round pick, it seemed clear Harbaugh would face this decision at some point. I’m sure he knew that, too. I doubt, though, that anyone expected that choice to have to come now.
Harbaugh put McCarthy into Sunday’s game with the Giants trailing by 24 points and 11:25 remaining. Most likely, he figured that in what seemed like a lost cause, it was a good chance to give McCarthy some snaps running the offense.
McCarthy’s first series ended in an interception on a ball nowhere near intended receiver Malachi Fields.
Then, stuff started to happen.
C.J. Donaldson of New Orleans fumbled. Arvell Reese recovered. McCarthy suddenly started slinging the ball all over the place, throwing for 243 yards in less than a quarter of action. The Giants started scoring, and somehow found themselves with a chance to win the game with :12 left.
It didn’t happen, of course, but now Harbaugh has to make a critical decision. Turn to McCarthy now, when he is still learning the full offense and hasn’t worked with the first team in practice, or try to ride with Winston at least through Sunday’s game against the Texans. That is followed by the Giants’ bye week.
“I thought he [McCarthy] came in there and did a heck of a job given the circumstances, and kind of desperation time,” Harbaugh said. “It’s different than normal football, but made some plays and got us back, gives us a chance to win the game, and we’re throwing the ball in the end zone at the end, so that was good. You’ve got to compliment him on that.”
Emotionally, it is easy to simply say it is time to give the keys to McCarthy. That time is probably coming, and it won’t shock me if he starts against the Texans. McCarthy does allow the Giants to run the offense the way they intended to, provided they can get a running game established.
After sleeping on it, though, despite his ups and downs, I think if the decision were mine, I would ride with Winston for one more week. If it doesn’t go well, then McCarthy has the bye week to prepare for back-to-back division starts against the Eagles and Commanders.
The run game is a disaster
That is the only way to describe what we have seen this season, and especially what we saw on Sunday, when the Giants give the ball to a running back.
The Giants did that 14 times on Sunday and got 34 yards for their efforts, 2.4 yards per carry. Najee Harris started and had four carries for 2 yards. Tyrone Tracy had six carries for 18 yards. Devin Singletary had four carries for 14 yards.
Cam Skattebo? He played five snaps, but never touched the ball.
Putting the Skattebo stuff aside for the moment, the Giants are clearly searching for someone — anyone — who can make a play when they hand him the ball.
“We were trying to see who could make something happen, who could get a hot hand and earn it. Nobody has really taken the bull by the horns,” said head coach John Harbaugh. “Motor (RB Devin Singletary) really hasn’t had a chance to take the bull by the horns. So, we thought we’d get him in the mix, too. So, we put four guys up and see if we can get something going with the running game. That was the idea.
Harbaugh said it “wasn’t by design” that Skattebo never touched the ball.
“Just when he [Skattebo] was in there, we didn’t call any runs,” Harbaugh said. “So, you’re not thinking about which back is in the game and how many runs they’re getting. It’s we’re going to give them all an equal shot, give them a chance. See who’s got a hot hand maybe, see who can get going with it. And we’re not planning on being down by 24. That’s for sure.”
Harbaugh knows divvying up snaps between four running backs is not ideal. But Derrick Henry did not come with him from the Baltimore Ravens.
“Now you can argue that. You can say, well, I don’t like that. I don’t like you divvying up the snaps between four backs. And I can tell you, I don’t like it either,” Harbaugh said. “One of those guys needs to step up. Somebody needs to step up and be the back. And none of those guys have done that yet. And when one of those guys steps up to be the back, then they’ll be the back. That’s your answer. And that’s as honest as I can be about it. And they know that, too. And believe me, they’re all hungry. They want to step up. One of those guys wants to step up. Somebody’s going to step up and take that job. We’re going to see who it is.”
Harris got the first opportunity. He carried three times in the first 16 plays. After he lost 6 yards on a first-down run from the Giants’ 14-yard line, though, he got only one more carry. Harris is a four-time 1,000-yard rusher who came to the Giants after tearing an Achilles tendon last season.
Harris clearly doesn’t like the four-way timeshare:
“It’s hard to get in a rhythm with one or two plays. The first couple runs will be like, ‘OK, how are they playing it?’ And then the next ones will be, ‘OK, this is how you attack it.’ But if you’re getting a play here and then get taken out for a series, there’s nothing you could do. That’s why I’m saying, ‘I don’t know.’ I’ve never been through none of this before.”
Harris is probably right. It is clear, though, that Harbaugh and the Giants are not sold that any of their backs can really be RB1.
Of course, it is tough to believe any running back could have made much out of the carries the Giants backs got on Sunday. There wasn’t any place to run. When the Pro Football Focus grades are made official on Monday, the Giants’ run-blocking scores will be ugly.
The fact that the Giants could not open holes against a New Orleans team that entered the game with one of the league’s worst defenses made the performance even worse.
“Not very good” is how Harbaugh summed up the running game.
Skattebo said it “sucked” not to be involved in the game, especially in the second half when the Giants fell behind, and the run game became useless.
“I got punished for what I did, and I understand, so I got to be ready when coach calls my name, and that wasn’t today,” Skattebo said. “It’s hard, but I’ve made mistakes, and I got to own up to them. And if that is what they want to do, is keep me on the sidelines because of that, I totally understand. I can’t make mistakes at this level of this game. And when you make mistakes like that, consequences are to be made.”
Skattebo said he knew his snaps would be reduced.
“Did I know it was going to go from 50 snaps to five snaps? No,” Skattebo said. “But if that’s what it is, that’s what it is. I’ve got to just get back to practice, work my butt off, and hopefully it comes back around.”
Six games into the season, with a coach who believes in a run-first philosophy and an offense built around that belief, Harbaugh, Skattebo, and the Giants have no answers when it comes to their lack of success running the ball.
Where those answers come from is anybody’s guess.
A missed opportunity
Everything changed for the Giants in the final 1:30 of Sunday’s first half. All the positivity, all the belief, all the aggression, all the hope from fans in the stands seemed to vaporize over a stunningly disastrous stretch.
It started on third-and-10 with the Saints at the Giants’ 40-yard line and the Giants leading, 10-0. Harbaugh, sensing confusion in the secondary, called a timeout just before the ball was snapped. Unfortunately, that negated a play that turned into a sack of Saints quarterback Tyler Shough that would have been a 3- or 4-yard loss.
After a third-down incompletion, Saints coach Kellen Moore elected a risky 58-yard field goal that Daniel Carlson made. Moore would almost certainly not have elected the field goal if it had been from 62 yards instead of 58.
Then, Jones fumbled the ensuing kickoff when he took a hit from Isaiah Stalbird of New Orleans. The Saints took over at the 28-yard line, and the game was tied, 10-10.
Halftime felt like a funeral. The first 18 minutes of the second half looked like one. The offense was a sputtering, ineffective mess as Winston, forced to throw on nearly every down, started throwing the ball to the wrong guys. The defense, so aggressive and impactful for the game’s first 28 minutes, was helpless. New Orleans scored on four of five possessions after halftime, making 34 unanswered points and taking a 34-10 lead before McCarthy time. Mistakes continued on the coverage and return units.
The stunning comeback engineered by McCarthy narrowly missed giving the Giants an unlikely, but important, victory.
Yet, it was a missed opportunity.
The Giants had a 10-0 lead and looked poised to improve to 4-1-1, creating some separation in an NFC East where the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys both fell to 2-4 on Sunday and the 1-3-1 Washington Commanders are on the road to face the 5-0 San Francisco 49ers on Monday night.
Then, they melted down and gave it all away.
If you were told before the season started that the Giants, winners of seven games over the past two seasons combined, would be 3-2-1 after six games this season, you would probably have signed up for it.
The way it has unfolded, though, it doesn’t feel as good as it might. Last week’s tie against the Commanders was a game the Giants had two opportunities to win in overtime, but they didn’t. Sunday was a game the Giants should have won, and had control of, but didn’t.
The Giants still lead the division, thanks in large part to the stunning underperformance of both the Eagles and Cowboys. Their record, though, could easily be 5-1 with a three-game lead in the NFC East rather than 3-2-1 with a 1.5-game lead.
When the season is all said and done, this feels like a two-week stretch that the Giants may look back upon with regret.