The New York Giants almost completed the comeback on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. They were trailing by 24 points early in the fourth quarter when head coach John Harbaugh decided to make a quarterback change, benching Jameis Winston in favor of JJ McCarthy.
McCarthy’s first drive ended prematurely after he threw an interception. But the four drives that followed completely flipped the script on the game.
McCarthy led the Giants to 17 unanswered points and even had a chance to win it. He came just 14 yards short on the final offensive snap of the day as the Saints barely escaped with a 34-27 victory.
McCarthy finished with a solid stat line of 11 completions on 21 attempts for 243 yards and one touchdown in just the fourth quarter alone. He also rushed twice for 26 yards.
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Given how well McCarthy played, it made sense for the Giants to immediately name him the starting quarterback after the game instead of going back to the aging veteran in Winston.
McCarthy was a first-round pick back in 2024 by the Vikings and has the most upside of New York’s available options. However, after the game Harbaugh admitted he is still facing a decision on who to start in Week 7.
He acknowledged he still believes in Winston but that both quarterbacks will be evaluated based on performance going forward, per Jordan Raanan of ESPN.
While Harbaugh believes in Winston, if the decision is truly being made based on performance, the answer has to be McCarthy. Winston was benched for a reason.
He had thrown for just 152 yards over three quarters of action, was sacked four times and threw two interceptions. Winston is well-received by the locker room, but the scoreboard told the real story on Sunday.
If Harbaugh goes back to Winston in Week 7 after what McCarthy showed in the fourth quarter, it will be a decision that is very hard to defend.
