There is an adage that “necessity is the mother of invention,” and for the New York Giants, that might very well be the case as Big Blue continues to redefine its identity on offense after losing starting quarterback Jaxson Dart seven snaps into Week 2 of the 2026 season.
Dart's injury forced the Giants to drop many RPO calls from their playbook because they don’t fit Jameis Winston’s more traditional pocket-passing style.
And thanks to this past week’s crazy showing against Washington, the Giants coaching staff may have had another epiphany regarding the league’s 21st-ranked offense (308.2 yards/game) and how to improve it.
In a nutshell: sit back and ride the Jameis Winston experience.
In two of the Giants’ five games this season, New York has leaned more heavily on the pass when in catch-up mode.
That showed up in Week 2 against the Rams, when the Giants threw the ball 32 times while running just 21.
It was also seen this past week again when the Giants, who never had a lead in what ended up a 27-27 tie, threw the ball 54 times while running 28 on a rainy, sloppy day that was crying out for the run game to take center stage.
The passing game, as it turned out, helped to open up the Giants offense and erase a 14-point deficit that ultimately sent the game into overtime.
“It was good, no question,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “We’ve been talking about some of the tempo stuff. We’ve been working on that. It’s been part of our system from day one, really. It’s something we built in from the beginning. And it was good to get to it.
“We got to it maybe because we had to. Maybe game flow forced us to do it, but it was a good thing in that sense. So yeah, it opened up the offense. It was good to see, and it probably needs to be part of what we’re doing going forward.”
Given the Giants’ run game struggles — New York is ranked 16th in total rushing yards (545) and 24th in average yards per rush (3.7) — the philosophy shift makes sense, though it should be noted that the Giants probably won’t be looking to throw the ball 40+ times per game unless they are in catch-up mode.
Still, there's precedent for leaning a bit more into Winston than pulling the plug and handing the keys to the offense to J.J. McCarthy at this point. Winston, who is 1-0-1 as a starter this season, has completed 61.1% of his pass attempts in his last three games.
He has also thrown three touchdown passes in each of his last two starts, which is good news for a Giants offense going against a New Orleans Saints pass defense that has allowed 18 touchdowns (3.6 per game) so far.
Turnovers are always a risk. Per PFF, Winston has six turnover-worthy plays, ranking 11th among quarterbacks with at least 140 dropbacks this season. But having him sling the ball a little bit more might even help the Giants’ sluggish running game.
According to Next Gen Stats, Giants running back Najee Harris has seen a loaded box (8+ defenders) on 25.93% of his rushing attempts, and Cam Skattebo on 22.22%.
Having Winston sling the ball around the field more to receiver Malik Nabers and tight end Isaiah Likely, two pass targets with whom Winston seems to have built a solid rapport, could help loosen things up for the running game, which is in search of more explosive runs.
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