If you were at MetLife Stadium yesterday afternoon to watch the Giants play the New Orleans Saints, you got a special treat: you saw three games for the price of one.
There was game one, in which the Giants forced the Saints to punt on their first three possessions and went up 10-0 late in the second quarter.
There was game two, in which the Giants turned the ball over four times - one on a fumble - and the Saints scored 34 unanswered points to take a 34-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.
And then there was game three, in which the Giants mounted a furious comeback, scoring 17 straight points to pull within 34-27 with 2:04 left in regulation, and were seconds away from possibly tying the game.
In the end, though, the rally fell short and New York lost a very winnable game against an opponent that started the day 1-4. With the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys both losing to fall to 2-4, Big Blue blew a golden opportunity to take a commanding lead in the NFC East.
There was plenty not to like about this game.
The fumble by Charlie Jones on a kickoff return with 1:18 remaining in the second quarter and the Giants up 10-3, completely changed the trajectory of this game. The Saints scored the tying touchdown with one second left in the half and then scored the next 24 points to take a commanding lead. You can't turn the ball over like that and expect to win in the NFL. At the very least, the Giants should've taken a seven point lead into the locker room. At the most, they could've extended their lead.
Jameis Winston finally came back down to Earth. After two very impressive starts in which he threw for 576 yards with 6 touchdowns and two interceptions, he transformed back into a pumpkin. His two picks in the second half, one of which was thrown directly at the defender, were inexcusable, but sadly predictable. This is what you get with Winston: a quarterback who can thrill you with incredible pass plays but can also frustrate you with inexplicable interceptions. You literally get the good with the bad with him.
And finally there was the run game, or lack thereof. The Giants managed only 84 yards against a Saints team that had allowed an average of 157 yards on the ground in their last three games. Cam Skattebo, whose fumble in Washington last week would've resulted in a loss had Jayden Daniels not had the brain fart of the decade, had zero carries. John Harbaugh said it had nothing to do with sending a message, but nobody seriously believes that. The real question wasn't why Skattebo didn't touch the ball but why Matt Naggy abandoned the running game so early. After they went up 10-0 late in the first half, the Giants ran the ball only seven more times the rest of the game, and one of those rushes was a 28 yard scramble by J.J. McCarthy on their final possession.
The Saints defense could not believe their good fortune; they teed off on Winston and McCarthy, sacking them five times for a loss of 18 yards. It is axiomatic, even in today's NFL, that you need to be able to run the ball in order to keep defenses honest. Otherwise you get what happened yesterday. Harbaugh can say all he wants that no one has stepped up in that room, and that's certainly true. But even if you're only gaining 2 to 3 yards a pop, that's still better than throwing an incomplete pass, which is what Winston did a lot of yesterday. I'd rather have a third and a manageable five than a third and long any day.
Case in point, on their first scoring drive, the Giants ran a total of 12 plays: 7 runs for 34 yards and 5 passes for 59. It was by far their most effective possessions of the game. Why on Earth would you stop doing that, especially with a quarterback that moves about as fast as a glacier in Greenland? It literally made no sense to anyone who was watching.
So instead of being 4-1-1, the Giants are 3-2-1 going into Houston to play a Texans team that has won two in a row and is clicking on all cylinders. Unlike the Saints, the Texans can actually play defense, and they have a pretty damn good quarterback. C.J. Stroud is second in the league with 1,714 yards and is playing like he did his rookie season when he threw for over 4,100 yards. According to ESPN Analytics, Houston has an 85 percent chance of winning. Normally, I don't pay much attention to predictions, but it's hard to argue with this one.
If I'm Harbaugh, I've seen enough of Winston. It's time to turn the page and hand the reigns over to McCarthy. His 243 passing yards in the fourth quarter yesterday were the most ever by a quarterback in NFL history. How much of that was because of McCarthy and how much of it was because the Saints went into a prevent defense is anyone's guess. But regardless, the Giants aren't going anywhere with an immobile and erratic signal caller under center. With the division wide open, Harbaugh has no choice but to roll the dice. As I wrote in an earlier piece, he didn't acquire him to sit on the bench. He clearly knows enough of the playbook to start.
McCarthy gives the Giants something they haven't had since Jaxson Dart went down in week two: a dual-threat quarterback. Naggy was brought here to design an offense around Dart. While no one is suggesting that McCarthy is as good as Dart, it's clear from the evidence that Winston ins't. He's the perfect backup, as long as you don't need him to actually play.
Week six is in the books; week seven is up next.
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