EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Giants have serious questions on offense after a 37-24 loss to the New Orleans Saints. New York coach John Harbaugh was unable to answer a question immediately after the game about who starts at quarterback next week at the Houston Texans, and Giants running back Cam Skattebo also saw his playing time slashed following a string of fumbles.
Harbaugh has to choose between Jameis Winston and J.J. McCarthy at quarterback. McCarthy came in early in the fourth quarter and almost led a miraculous comeback while throwing for 243 yards. Winston, meanwhile, lost for the first time in four starts Sunday as he threw a pair of interceptions before being removed.
"Can't answer that now," Harbaugh said in his postgame news conference about his starting quarterback moving forward. "Game just ended 10 minutes ago."
McCarthy, a 2024 first-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings who was acquired in a trade by the Giants late last month, led three scoring drives and got the Giants inside the red zone in the final seconds. But his fourth-down pass with under 20 seconds remaining sailed over the head of triple-covered tight end Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone.
McCarthy finished 11-of-21 passing for 243 yards and a touchdown with the one interception and also led the Giants with 26 rushing yards to seemingly open the door for a potential quarterback change.
"Like I said, I can't answer it now. It's not even up for discussion or conversation right now," Harbaugh said. "We got to go back and go to work. I have no problem with Jameis whatsoever. I love the way he competes. I love the way he fights. All those kinds of things. Play was up and down today for sure. But all those things will be decided [and] not 10 minutes after the game."
McCarthy's 243 yards were the second-most passing yards in a fourth quarter by a quarterback who didn't start over the past 25 seasons, according to ESPN Research. Only Sage Rosenfels (249) had more in Week 7 of 2007 for the Tennessee Titans.
McCarthy wasn't overly impressed because the Giants still lost the game. He also said he's not thinking about whether he did enough to wrestle the job from Winston.
"The only thing I'm focused on is getting better each and every day," McCarthy said. "At the end of the day, Coach Harbaugh has to make a lot of decisions. Those are his decisions. I trust him wholeheartedly with any decision he makes."
Winston became the Giants' starter when Jaxson Dart was lost for the season in Week 2 because of a left knee injury. Winston won his first two starts before last week's tie with the Washington Commanders.
The veteran backup finished 14-of-26 passing for 152 yards and a touchdown with the two interceptions against the Saints.
"That's a decision [Harbaugh] will have to make," Winston said of whether he remains the starter. "What I would love is to just put myself in a better position to execute. That just starts with is me, things that I can control, going out there every single play and doing my very best."
Harbaugh said he thought McCarthy played well but also noted that it was a unique situation.
It was "desperation time" and "different than normal football" when McCarthy entered the game with the Giants trailing 34-10 with just under 12 minutes remaining.
But the Giants' problems on offense extend beyond the quarterback. They couldn't run the football again Sunday despite having four running backs (Skattebo, Najee Harris, Devin Singletary and Tyrone Tracy Jr.) active for the contest.
The Giants' backs had a combined 14 carries for 34 yards. Skattebo didn't have a carry despite leading the team with 81 rushes for 294 yards through the first five weeks. He was on the field for just six snaps after averaging 42 over the first five games.
"We didn't bench Cam Skattebo. It was not by design. All those guys were taking equal reps the first half. We were trying to see who could make something happen, who could get a hot hand and earn it," Harbaugh said. "Nobody's really taken the bull by the horns.
"You can say I don't like that, I don't like you divvying up the snaps between four backs. I can tell you I don't like it, either. One of those guys needs to step up. Someone needs to step up and be the back. And none of those guys has done that yet."
Harris started and logged four carries for 2 yards. Singletary had four carries for 14 yards, and Tracy rushed for a touchdown and caught another. He finished with six carries for 18 yards.
Skattebo said he was benched for a fumble in overtime the previous week against the Commanders. It was his fourth fumble of the season and fifth in 13 career games.
Skattebo said he didn't expect to have zero carries but knew his role would be limited.
"I got punished for what I did," he said. "I understand it. I have to be ready when coach calls my name, and that wasn't [Sunday]."
It's among the big decisions Harbaugh and the first-place Giants (3-2-1) have to make before next week's game in Houston.
