SHAKEUP: Giants Quarterback Controversy ERUPTS—Jameis Winston or J.J. McCarthy Going Forward?

This is the Locked On Podcast Network, celebrating 10 years of your team every day. Hey, Drake May here. As a pro quarterback, I know I can't do it alone. I have to trust my team, and that goes for my money too, which is why I use Betterment, the trusted investing and savings platform. Their automated investing tools always have my back. Just like my old line, over a million people already trust Betterment to build their wealth, so I know I'm in good company. Start building yours at betterment.com or download the app. Investing involves risk, performance not guaranteed, paid client ad, views may not be representative, see App Store and Google Play reviews. Learn more at betterment.com/ambassadors. The NFL season is finally here, and Locked On NFL is covering every second of it. You can find us breaking down all the action on Amazon Music every single day with bold takes and real analysis that matters. Opening day storylines, roster moves. If it's happening with your team, we're on it. No waiting, no fluff. Subscribe on Amazon Music and never miss a snap. Four quarters, two quarterbacks, so one very awkward week ahead for New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh. You are Locked On Giants, your daily New York Giants podcast. Hello, New York Giants fans and welcome to another edition of the Locked On Giants podcast. I am your host, Patricia Traina, and on today's Locked On Giants podcast, the Giants 34-27 lost to the New Orleans Saints. Don't let the score fool you. It wasn't as close as it sounds, although JJ. McCarthy made it very interesting there at the end. So now we are at a point where the question of Jameis or JJ., we're finally gonna have to debate that for the next few days. And John Harbaugh is gonna have to make a decision on that. So we'll talk about that in the first segment of the show. Then in the second segment of the show we are going to take a look at the Giants' non-existing running game. What is going on with the running game? Well, I've got some ideas based on what I saw in the game. And we will talk about that as well. And then in segment number three, just the whole team was a mess. Defense, special teams, just some of the play calling, just things that just popped up and you watched and you just said, my gosh, are the Giants playing down to the level of the Saints? I mean, that's the takeaway I came up with. So we'll talk about some of that as well on today's episode, which by the way, is brought to you by FanDuel. Get $350 in bonus, that's guaranteed when you bet $5 every day for seven days. Join in on all the action at fanduel.com. All right, let's talk about the quarterback situation. You knew it was coming folks, it was just a matter of time. Because look, Jameis Winston, he wasn't very good this week. Let's be honest, Jameis went 14 for 26, he threw for 152 yards, he had one touchdown, two interceptions, and he was sacked four times. But in fairness to Jameis Winston, he had no running game whatsoever. His offensive line just was not very good. He had at least one drop pass. I'm not trying to make excuses for Jameis, and also some of the plague calling just was like, again, that first sequence that the Giants had where they ran, they got the ball at the 40 after the Saints had that landing zone penalty, and the Giants started at the 40-yard line, and the sequence on that first series was just terrible. It was like two receiver screens, and then they tried to go deep to Isaiah Likely, no success, so it wasn't all on Jameis. But to be fair though, Jameis is limited. He can do certain things well, but this game, he didn't really try any deep balls. This game, when you push Jameis to the point where it's like, okay, Jameis, you have to beat us, that's a problem. We saw that today. I mean, the Giants, no running game against the 30th rank run defense coming into this week's game. So basically, the Saints dared Jameis to beat them. And you also throw into the equation here that because the Giants didn't have much of a running game, they had to throw the ball a lot, especially when they fell behind. They started to fall behind. And basically, it was Isaiah Ligley, who everybody knew the Giants that Jameis would throw to, or Malik Nabors, the other guy that everybody kind of knew that he would throw to. So the offense bottom line became predictable. And once it's predictable, I mean, if I can sit there and my colleagues can sit there up in the press box, and we can call out what they're going to do, you know it's predictable and that's a problem. Now, JJ. McCarthy, let's talk about him. JJ. McCarthy went 11 of 21, 243 yards, one sack, one touchdown, one interception. All of that in the fourth quarter. At that point, the Saints were maybe playing back a little bit, you know? Maybe, I don't know if taking their foot off the gas pedal is the right way to put it. But it was, you know, the Saints basically knew they had the game in the back. But JJ actually, you know, led the Giants on three straight scoring drives and brought them to within seven points. And they came really close to tying it. You know, that fourth and, I think it was fourth and one, that last pass play that they tried, if that ball is a little bit better on target, maybe the Giants pull it off. But that being said, JJ also gave them something that Jameis doesn't, and that's the RPO game. And we saw that in the first half JJ got a snap and he ran an RPO. And I know I turned to Ed Valentine and I said, they've got to stick with one quarterback. Stop with this rotating guys in and out. Stick with one quarterback. Well, when JJ finally took over for Jameis in the fourth quarter, JJ had the most rushing yards out of all the Giants runners. JJ ran for 26 yards on two carries. That's a 13 per carry average. A long of 28. That was the Giants' longest rush of the day. That's what JJ gives you. The reason why I think a lot of people say, just end the Jameis Winston experience, just go with JJ. McCarthy, is because of that. JJ can give you mobility. As a runner, he gives the defense another guy that they have to account for. They know they don't have to account for Jameis Winston in the running game. Now, this brings up the question of, what do the Giants do as far as the quarterback next week? Now, John Harbaugh predictably after the game said, I'm not making any decisions. The game ended 10 minutes ago. At the time when he made the comment, he's going to look at everything. What I would do, and I know this is probably not going to be popular here, but what I would do here, I give Jameis Winston one more start. I restore the running back rotation, which I will get to in the next segment. If Jameis can't deliver against the Houston Texans, and let's be honest with you, the Giants are probably going to be underdogs, and I don't know that they win that game anyway. I mean, that's one of the games that I had, the Giants losing at the start of the season. You give Jameis one more week. Then you have your bye week. You've got two more weeks basically then to get JJ up to snuff, really up to snuff at that point. If you're going to make a change, you make the change after the bye week. That's what I would do. As of right now, the Giants are still in first place in the NFC East. So that's how I would handle it. But I do think ultimately, it's coming. A change is coming at quarterback. And as much as I want to see Jameis Winston succeed, because if he succeeds, that means the team is doing well. You kind of knew that this was the direction things were going in, that he wasn't going to be sustainable throughout the entire season. And it's not all his fault. I want to stress that. It is not all his fault. You've got to have a running game. When you become one-dimensional, you might as well just wave the white flag right then and there. He didn't get any help from the defensive side. With the defense, there were a couple of series where the defense just couldn't get off the field on third down. So that didn't help. Special teams, which I'll talk about later on in the program, that was a mess this week. So it was a total team loss. Jameis is in the spotlight though. JJ. McCarthy is in the spotlight. And here we are. We've got a quarterback debate, if you will. As to who the quarterback should be moving forward. A lot of fans I know jumped into my X timeline and they were like, you gotta go with JJ next week. Well, we'll see if that's what Harbaugh does. I think, you know, if it's me again, I give Jameis another week, see what happens, maybe get the running game going again. I mean, you know, again, I'll talk about the running game coming up, but you see if you can't fix some of this stuff. And if you lose next week, then you say, okay, look, we're getting into the tougher part of our schedule. Once we come back from the buy, that's when we'll make a change. And I'll be honest with you, even if they take that route, I'd still be a little bit nervous about that. But that's up to them. That's what John Harbaugh gets paid the big bucks for. All right, giant fans, coming up next, I'm going to talk about the running game because I've got a lot to say about how that was handled. So that'll be right after this. What's going on, everybody? My name is Ross Jackson, host of the Locked On Saints podcast. And today's episode is brought to you by our friends over at Brooklyn Bedding. As a trusted reporter, in order for me to make sure that I'm on top of my game each and every day, I need to make sure I'm trusting the right mattress with my sleep each and every night. And that is where Brooklyn Bedding and their Thermo Balance mattress have changed the game for me, helping me stay cool, stay comfortable, and have increased my sleep quality like I have never experienced before. And they'll even let you try it out. They'll give you a 365 night comfort trial. Love it or they'll help you exchange it or return it hassle free. They're just like that. So head over and check them out today. Go to brooklynbedding.com and use promo code LockedOnNFL for 30% off sitewide throughout their fall sale, exclusive with this code. That's brooklynbedding.com. Promo code LockedOnNFL for 30% off sitewide. Don't forget to let them know that we sent you in the survey after checkout. brooklynbedding.com, promo code LockedOnNFL. All right, Giants fans. Football is finally back and every week brings new matchups, breakout players, big performers, and plenty of storylines to follow. And if you like getting even more engaged with the players and stats that you're watching, PricePix, which is now available nationwide, is bringing out its best offer yet. New users who sign up can get $150 in lineups and I think they win their first $5 lineup. Here's how it works. You build the Daily Fantasy lineup by choosing two to six players and picking more or less on their projected stats, like passing yards, rushing yards, or a fantasy score. And this year, I'm on Malik Neighbors' Catches and receiving yards on PricePix. Neighbors said that he's almost at 100%, not quite there yet, so I can't wait to see what else he brings to the table. Did you know that PricePix invented the injury reboot? If a player in your lineup gets injured in the first half and doesn't return, your lineup can still cash. So go on and download the app today and use Supremaco Locked On NFL to get $150 instantly in lineups. If you win your first $5 lineup, PricePix, run your game. All right, Jameis, welcome back to the Locked On Giants podcast. Locked On Giants is part of the Locked On Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network in America, celebrating our 10th anniversary all year long. I'm your host, Patricia Traina, credential member of the Giants Media for Locked On, as well as for New York Giants On SI, which is where all my written work can be found. As always, we welcome on in our Blue Crew, which is our everyday club, our newcomers. If you're new to the program, welcome, and everybody in between. Thank you so much for spending part of your day with us here on the Locked On Giants podcast, or if you have made us your first listener today, we appreciate that as well. If you're interested in joining the Blue Crew, or our everyday club as we call them, you could do so by visiting lockedonnygiants.supercast.com. We've got a list of all the benefits you get, AMA calls, one-on-one texting with me, special features, ad-free episodes, a whole bunch of stuff that we have to offer. Again, that URL is lockedonnygiants.supercast.com. Let's talk about the Giants running game. Boy, do I have a lot to say about this. Let's start off with the decision by the coaching staff to not put the ball in Cam Skattebo's hands. Now, I didn't think that Skattebo was going to be benched or deactivated. I knew they were going to keep four running backs active. And the plan, if you're going to do that, the plan should be to get one of them into a groove and just, you know, let him be the hot hand. But here's the problem with that philosophy. This is something that John Harbaugh talked about, by the way. He said he was looking to see if somebody would develop as the hot hand in the running game. You cannot develop into a hot hand if you cannot get into a rhythm. And none of those running backs ever got into a rhythm. And Najeeh Harris, after the game, told a bunch of us in the locker room, he said, you know, this is weird. I've never gone through something like this before. You know, how are you supposed to get into a rhythm if you're running one or two plays and then you're coming out? And he is absolutely right. You ask any NFL running back, any college running back, any Peewee running back, and they will probably tell you, you've got to have multiple carries to get into a rhythm. So the Giants, they had four running backs active for the game. Devon Singletary, Tyrone Tracy, Najee Harris, Cam Skattebo. Skattebo didn't see the ball at all. And John Harbaugh says, oh, that wasn't by design. That's just how it went, worked out. Skattebo after the game had a little different, you know, opinion of that. He said, look, I was punished. He came right out and he said, I was punished. That is a direct quote from Cam Skattebo. And he said, you know, I've got to take responsibility for the mistakes I made, and I've got to be ready the next time my number is called. So kudos to him for taking, you know, accountability. But Harbaugh, now this is what I didn't like about his response, okay? He said, when he was challenged on this and said, well, why didn't Skattebo, you know, we got like six reps on offense all throughout the game? Why not give him a touch? If you were looking for a guy to find a spark, Harbaugh said, well, go and look at the math. He said, you know, we had four guys and we fell behind and, you know, look at the math. Okay, I looked at the math. And here's what I've got here. The Giants had 20 carries altogether. Six of those carries were by the quarterbacks and one by the running, the wide receiver, Darnale Mooney, all right? So six of them. So that left 14 carries. And again, you divide that by four. That comes to a little over three per carry. Okay, where is the opportunity to get the flow? And I don't, and, you know, I haven't even mentioned the run blocking by the offensive line, which was just terrible. Why they kept running to the right behind Marcus Bowe instead of to the left behind Andrew Thomas, you know, who admittedly isn't 100% and isn't himself, but he's still the best offensive lineman they've got. He is still the best offensive lineman they've got. Why aren't you running behind him? All right, I just didn't get that. And that's a coaching issue. That's a scheme issue, a coaching issue, whatever you want to call it. I did not think that that was the way to go, but I don't get paid to make that decision. I'm just, I'm just a, you know, a reporter just giving an opinion here. All right, now, the other thing, let's look at some math here, okay? The Giants said, the Giants in the first half, nine carries eight yards. Whoa, that's less than a yard per carry, right? And when they were done, just the running backs. Now this is just the running backs. I'm not taking into consideration the receiver and the quarterbacks when I give you these numbers. When the game was done, 14 carries, all right? 34 yards, a 2.42 average. Again, how are you supposed to find the hot hand? What are you hoping that somebody instantly materializes and you have the next Derek Henry or the next Barry Sanders? I don't think it works that way. I really don't. So just bottom line in here, and I have said this quite often, I do not think the Giants have a running back one on this team. It was evident today, and I know some of you are going to say, well, Skattebo is an RB1. I'm sorry, I disagree. The Giants, when I think of an RB1, I mean, look, they were after Kenneth Walker until they found out he was too expensive. They wanted Jeremiah Love, and they never got a chance to draft him. If that doesn't tell you what John Harbaugh thought of the running back room, I don't know what to tell you guys. I really don't. You know, Skattebo, I think, would make a great RB2. But right now, I just don't understand what they're trying to do with this running back group. You've got to get these guys into a rhythm. You've got to get these guys an opportunity to get into a flow, and they're just not doing it. And then they wonder why, well, why aren't we running the ball well? This is why, in my opinion. So the answer is, pick one running back and stick with him, for better or worse. You know, and by the way, if Skattebo felt he was punished and if that was relayed to him, that he was being punished, then you better punish all the other guys who make mistakes. All right? You can't just punish the running backs. Charlie Jones fumbled. You know, if you want to be really nitpicky, punish the guys that commit, you know, stupid penalties after the whistle. Punish the guys who miss blocks and miss tackles. You can't punish everybody. Mistakes are going to happen. So you know what? Cam Skattebo has a problem with the high and tight, you know, holding the ball and his ball security. Work with him and fix it. That's what you're getting paid for. It's not that, you know, Skattebo is a bad runner. He's not. It's not that Tyrone Tracy is a bad runner. He's not. But if there's a problem, work with them, coach them and see if you can't fix it. You know, that's how I feel. You know, it's not something that happens overnight. You have to keep working at it. You have to keep repping it. You only have so many, you know, opportunities during the course of a practice. You only spend, what? I don't know, 20, 30 minutes on individual drills. So that's how I would approach it. But that's just me. All right, Giant fans, coming up next. Defense, special teams, what a mess. What an absolute mess in this game. We'll talk about it. Let me come back. Hey, Giant fans, today's episode of Locked On Giants is brought to you by FanDuel. Football Sundays are here and every snap matters. And with FanDuel Sportsbook, you can put your gameday knowledge to work. Pick your spot on the biggest games of the week, from the opening kickoff to the final whistle. Want to stay in the action all game long? Live betting lets you make your moves as the game unfolds, while same-game parlay's lets you build your own bet with your favorite players all in one place. In this NFL season, FanDuel is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all-new FanDuel Rewards Club, featuring exclusive offers, surprises, and more. You never know what you're going to find when you open the app, and FanDuel makes it simple. Download the app, create your account in minutes, and get access to odds, props, and markets on the NFL, college football, and a whole lot more. Make this your most rewarding season ever with FanDuel. Visit fanduel.com today to get started. A giant fan running a business shouldn't feel like connecting a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. One app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales, and somehow none of them talk to each other. That's where Odoo comes in. Odoo is the all-in-one business management software that brings every part of your company together into one powerful platform so that your team can move faster, stay organized, and focus on growing the business instead of managing software. The best organizations know that success isn't just about talent, it's about everyone working toward the same goal. And that's true in sports, just like it is in business. Great organizations win because their operations work, and that's why you should get Odoo, one platform to manage, grow, and scale your business. Try it for free today at odoo.com/locked on. That's odoo.com/locked on. All right, Giant fans, welcome back to the Locked On Giants Podcast. I'm your host, Patricia Traina, and we are recapping a rather frustrating Giants loss to the New Orleans Saints 34-27. I felt good about this game going in until this morning, and I remember saying to Ed Valentine, who sits next to me in the press box, I said, this is the type of game that the Giants should win, but you feel like it's going to be a loss. Sadly, it turned out to be a loss. And it wasn't as close as the score suggested, just the Giants sloppy, sloppy game with penalties, with everything. So let's run down some of the sloppiness, all right? I'm going to start with the defense. According to Pro Football Focus, 12 missed tackles, 12. Not going to win very many games if you're missing that many tackles. In quarters one through three, the Giants' run defense, which again was bad this week, they allowed 5.7 yards per carry in quarters one through three, all right? 5.7 yards per carry. You're not going to win when you allow that kind of yardage, all right? Zero sacks, pass rush, where was it today? I mean, I saw Abdelkader active, but I didn't see Kay Von Timidum do a whole lot. I didn't see some of the other guys do a whole lot. I mean, Tyler Shuck had all kinds of time to throw the ball, and he did. So the defense, and then I mentioned earlier in the show, I mentioned how there were instances where they just weren't getting off the field, come third down. The Giants just weren't getting off the field. What was the third down efficiency? Let's take a look real quick. The Saints had, they went 4 or 15, 26.7. But there were series where the Giants just, there was one scoring drive where I think the Giants allowed three straight third down conversions, one of which was by penalty. I think I mentioned penalties, 10 penalties, 73 yards. Oh my gosh, sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Now, that's just the defense. Let's talk about special teams. Special teams had been good for the most part all season. But you had the Charlie Jones fumble on the punt return. And from that point on, the air went out at the balloon, not just on the field, but in the stadium because that's when the Saints kind of flipped the script so to speak and went on a scoring range. The return game, let's talk about that. The Saints beat the Giants in return game. On kickoff returns, they averaged 28.3 yards to the Giants 22.4. The punt return, the Saints averaged 13.6 yards per return. The Giants only 8.3. Absolutely terrible. And I just don't know what it was. I mean, there were some long returns by the Saints return specialists, and you're sitting there and you're saying, what's going on here? Especially after the special teams had been so good for the most part this season. So bad day at the office, I suppose, but it didn't help matters, did it? All right, now some other things that kind of, you know, bothered me a little bit about this game. The Giants went into this game with four receivers, which I, again, I expected, but here's the problem. Charlie Jones isn't going to give you a heck of a lot in the passing game. So that left you with Mooney, Neighbors and Malachi Fields. Mooney ended up getting a neck injury, re-aggravating that neck injury that he had. So that left you basically with Malik Neighbors. And Isaiah Likely, who's a tight end. He was the other guy that was targeted a lot. But that was a bit of a risk. And speaking of Malik Neighbors, did anybody catch on that first interception thrown by Jameis Winston, the one that counted, not the one that was wiped out by penalty? Did anybody notice how Malik Neighbors just stood there and watched the defensive back, catch the ball, and he didn't even bother to stick his hand in there and knock it away? I'm sitting there and I'm watching that, I'm like, dude, you know, sometimes you've got to turn into a defensive back when that stuff like that happens, stick your hand in there, break up the pass if you can. Malik Neighbors just stood there and just watched the guy catch it. And I'm sitting there, I couldn't believe it. I could not believe it. And I'm thinking to myself, you know, what's going on here? So that I didn't like either. All right, so these are some of the things that just the Giants bottom line played down to the Saints. They really did. And, you know, they're still in first place in the division, last I checked, pending what I think what happens with Dallas. And, you know, the tough part of their schedule is coming up and just looking back over these first few weeks, I get it, all right, Jackson Dard is out. Nobody was counting on that happening. Brian Burns is out. Nobody was counting on that happening. Nobody was counting on, you know, Braxton Berrios suffering a, you know, a season ending foot injury. But these things happen. And they always say, oh, next man up. Well, next man up ain't doing so hot, are they? And it's not just, you know, one guy, it's just, it's a combination of guys. And the Giants, as they start to head into the tough part of their schedule, they better pull it together. I don't know, you know, the roster is what it is at this point. I suppose if you can make an argument, oh, maybe they trade for a running back. Okay, great. You're going to trade for a running back and still have the rotation, or you're going to trade for a guy and make him your number one guy, undisputed. I don't know, guys. I don't know what the answer is. All I know is that this was a very, you know, disturbing development. And going back to the quarterback question, I have no idea what John Harbaugh is going to do. I think, I suspect he'll stay with Jameis, like I said, for another week. Go into the bye week, we evaluate, and then we'll see if Jameis remains the guy. But should he? Some of you are going to say yes, and some of you are going to say no. Me? I've got to look at the tape again. You know, I'm recording this after the game, like I said. So everything I have is just basically my notes in real time. But the Giants better get this figured out, because if they want to get to the postseason, they got to play better than they did today, and they just did not bring it. It was just an ugly, ugly game. And if this is going to be the only ugly game they have, well, actually, their ugly game was also against the Rams, but they got to limit these ugly games. Otherwise, they ain't going anywhere after the season other than home. All right, Giants, that is going to do it for this edition of the Locked On Giants podcast. I want to thank you so much for tuning in. If you made us your first listener of the day, I appreciate that as well. If you want another way to stay locked on to the Giants every day, check out Locked On Giants. Hit your daily shot of espresso on the team you love. Quick, strong, and five minutes or less. Find Locked On Giants. Hit on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Giants, that does it for me. I will see you again tomorrow on an all new episode of Locked On Giants. Thank you. You know who's hitting a homer today? FanDuel is giving you a free chance to call your shot with Daily Dingers. It's easy to play. Just make your free pick for who you think will hit a home run in their game. If you're right, you'll receive a profit boost to use on your next bet for a chance at extra winnings. Best of all, you can make a free pick every day throughout the MLB season. So are you ready to play your game today? Join all the action at fanduel.com. That's fanduel.com to play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer. Play ball and swing for the fences on FanDuel, an official partner of the MLB.