The New York Giants are triggering a quarterback controversy following their 34-27 loss against the New Orleans Saints in Week 6 at MetLife Stadium. In the fourth quarter, with the Giants trailing 34-10, head coach John Harbaugh swapped out quarterback Jameis Winston in favor of J.J. McCarthy, who was acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings late last month.
In McCarthy’s first legitimate action as the Giants’ quarterback, he excelled, completing 11 of 21 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown
while also getting 26 yards on the ground. He led New York on a trio of scoring drives to cut the deficit to a single touchdown. McCarthy also had one last chance to tie or win the game on the final drive. He marched the Giants downfield all the way to the red zone, but he was unable to finish the job, resulting in a loss for the Giants.
After the game, Giants Harbaugh kept the door open on a possible quarterback change ahead of Week 7 against the Houston Texans.
“Did a heck of a job, given the circumstances and the desperation,” Harbaugh said postgame. “It’s different than normal football, but he made some plays, got us back, and gave us a chance at the end to win the game. We were throwing the ball in the end zone at the end, so that was good.”
Harbaugh said he “can’t answer” who will start next week and would not make a decision 10 minutes after Sunday’s game.
Despite winning his first two starts as QB1, Winston struggled against his former Saints team in Week 6. He completed 14 of 26 passes for 152 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions, both of which led to quick scoring drives for the Saints.
Winston was asked about how he felt about a possible benching ahead of next week.
“That’s the decision [Coach John Harbaugh] will have to make. What I would love is to put myself in a better position to execute, and it starts with me: things I can control, going out there every single play, and doing my very best,” Winston said.
Regardless of whether he is starting or backing up Winston next week, McCarthy is going to prepare against the Texans the same way.
“Just making sure that each and every week, even when I got here when we were playing Arizona, I went into the game with the mindset that I could play the whole game. Just being able to really put myself in that position, Monday through Saturday, is something that helped me out today,” McCarthy said in the locker room.
McCarthy was just happy to show he could help the team.
“I hope I just showed them that I do my job at a high enough level that they can trust me out there,” McCarthy wasn’t biting on whether or not he deserved to be the starting quarterback. “At the end of the day, we didn’t win the game. We’ve got to do things better, and I’ve got to do better, and figure out ways that we can close this thing out.”
Big Blue View community, who do you think should start next week between Winston and McCarthy? Let us know by voting in the poll below.
