In Week 6, the Giants took on the New Orleans Saints at home and faced a 34-27 defeat to fall to 3-2-1 on the season. Jameis Winston had a very poor game which led to J.J. McCarthy stepping in as quarterback. The Giants had a late game rally to shrink the 24-point lead to seven but could not get it done on the final drive of the game.
The Giants started off the game strong with a 10-0 and all seemed to be going well. However, in the final minutes of the first half, the Giants turned the ball over on the kickoff return to the Saints leading to a touchdown.
Coming out of the half, the Saints scored 17 unanswered points while Winston threw two interceptions and could not get the offense moving. Winston was benched after his second interception in favor of McCarthy, the young quarterback the Giants acquired on Sept 28. On McCarthy’s first drive, he threw an interception. Down 34-10, all seemed to be lost.
McCarthy began moving the chains for the Giants and led two touchdowns and a field goal drive to cut the large lead down to seven. The Giants did not score the game tying touchdown in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, leading to New York’s second loss of the season.
According to Fox Sports, McCarthy went 11/21 on completed passes for 243 yards, one passing touchdown and one interception in comparison to Winston’s 14/26 for 152 yards, one passing touchdown and two interceptions. McCarthy had more passing yards, but only played for 12 minutes in the final half while Winston played the majority of the game.
These statistics suggest that McCarthy should start over Winston in Week 7. “I can’t answer it now. It’s not even up for discussion or conversation right now…Those things will be decided [and] not 10 minutes after the game,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said when asked about his starting quarterback during his postgame news conference on Oct. 18.
Three days later, Harbaugh confirmed that McCarthy would replace Winston as the Week 7 starter.“It’s all things considered what gives us the best chance to be our best, give us the best chance to play the best offense we can,” he announced following practice on Oct. 21.
A key piece seemed to be missing in Sunday’s game, Cam Skattebo. After his costly fumble during week 5 against the Washington Commanders, he was benched, though unintentionally according to Harbaugh, who some feel may be trying to send a powerful message with Skattebo.
According to The Sporting News, he did not log a single carry against the Saints even though he leads the team in carries.
Following this loss against the Saints, New York must figure out some of their key offensive pieces. Is McCarthy going to start for the Giants? Will Skattebo earn his playing time back? These are all questions that must be answered as the Giants take on the Texans on Oct. 25.
