The New York Giants refuse to have a normal Sunday. Refuse, I tell ya. And while it might be good for watchability purposes, it’s not great for my well-being. However, something tells me John Harbaugh and Co. don’t necessarily care about my mental health.
The Giants lost to the New Orleans Saints, because of course they did, 34-27 in a Week 6 contest where the final score made things look a lot closer than the game actually was.
It was the ultimate game of runs, yo-yoing back and forth in a way that had me celebrating way too early, screaming at the TV, giving up on playoff hopes, and then somehow believing the Giants could be down 100 points in the fourth quarter and still find a way to fight back and steal a win.
The good news is that even with the loss, the G-Men fall to 3-2-1, with the NFC East lead still in the palm of their hands. Here are the game’s biggest winners and losers.
2 winners and 5 losers from Giants' Week 6 loss to the Saints
Winner: Malik Nabers
Malik Nabers could very well be the best wide receiver to ever suit up in Giants blue when it’s all said and done. Still recovering from last year’s season-ending ACL injury, the 23-year-old had himself a field day against the Saints’ defense, gashing them for a career-high 165 receiving yards on 12 receptions.
Leek is the first Giants wideout with three straight 100-plus-yard receiving games since Odell Beckham Jr. did it in 2015. Oh, and speaking of OBJ, Nabers also officially passed Rams superstar Puka Nacua for the second-most receptions by a player through their first 25 career games in NFL history:
- Odell Beckham Jr., NYG - 176
- Malik Nabers, NYG - 168
- Puka Nacua, LAR - 159
- Brock Bowers, LV - 157
- Michael Thomas, NO - 157
Not bad for a guy who said he still thinks he has 20-30% more to go before he’s totally back to normal. If he’s got even 1% more left to fish out, he’s going to be even more of a nightmare to cover than he already is. Through six weeks, the third-year pass-catcher has 41 receptions for 494 yards and two touchdowns.
Winner: J.J. McCarthy's garbage-time audition
It’s not every day a former top-10 quarterback gets traded for pennies on the dollar after struggling to do much of anything in his first 10 career starts, only to come off the bench in the fourth quarter of a game his new team is losing by 24 points and nearly lead an impossible comeback. But when it happens, it’s hard not to notice.
While Jameis Winston struggled to move the offense on Sunday (more on that later), Harbaugh turned to J.J. McCarthy, seemingly just to get through the rest of a miserable game. Down 34-10 with 11:31 remaining, the 23-year-old used what was essentially garbage time to throw for 243 yards and a touchdown, bringing Big Blue within one score and making a pretty compelling case for the starting job moving forward.
Loser: Cam Skattebo
Second-year running back Cam Skattebo was by far the biggest loser in Big Blue’s loss. After coughing up his fourth fumble in five games last week, Skatt was essentially benched as punishment on Sunday, playing only six snaps and getting zero touches.
There’s likely a lot more to his benching than having feet for hands, but it’s a terrible look for a guy who was absolutely electric as a rookie before going down with a season-ending dislocated ankle in Week 8 last year. The silver lining for Skatt is that Harbs almost needs him involved in the game plan if the offense wants to get anything going on the ground.
Just look at what he has to work with without him:
- Tyrone Tracy Jr. | six carries, 18 yards, 3.0 yards per carry
- Najee Harris | four carries, 2 yards, 0.5 yards per carry
- Devin Singletary | four carries, 14 yards, 3.5 yards per carry
Loser: Giants' rushing attack
Why stop at just Skattebo? The entire rushing attack was gross. New York running backs accounted for 34 rushing yards on 14 carries. That’s **checks notes** not good. For a team that wants to impose its will on opponents with a run-you-through-the-turf rushing attack, this was about as bad an effort as you’re going to see.
NOLA entered the game allowing the third-most rushing yards through five weeks at 148.8 per game. They held Big Blue to nearly half that (84), with New York’s top two runners being their backup QB (McCarthy, 26) and a wide receiver (Darnell Mooney, 20).
Loser: Jameis Winston
There’s a slim chance -- but a chance -- Giants fans have already seen the last snap Winston takes under center for the G-Men this year, barring injury. I personally believe that with the Houston Texans coming up next week and the bye following in Week 8, it doesn’t make much sense to sit Winston just yet, but I don’t make the personnel decisions.
We got the full Jameis Winston Experience on Sunday. The former first overall pick finished 14-of-26 for 152 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He held onto the football too long, resulting in four sacks, too. The offense was borderline unwatchable for most of the afternoon, with the only relief for the eyes coming when Famous Jameis was benched early in the fourth quarter.
This might be the beginning of the end for Winston.
Loser: Big Blue's "fearsome" pass rush
All offseason, the talk of the town was New York’s presumed daunting pass rush. Six games into the season, with only eight sacks to show for it, it’s clear we might’ve put too much stock into the unit before the season.
Obviously, losing star pass rusher Brian Burns for the year was going to hurt the team’s sack total, but getting blanked in the box score for the third time this season is a big problem. Not only did the G-Men fail to sack Tyler Shough, but they only hit him once all game. That’s not good enough in today’s pass-happy league. Getting after the QB is almost as important as having an elite QB.
Going into Sunday, the Giants were tied for fourth-worst with eight sacks in five games. They’ll only tumble further after staying put in Week 6.
Loser: Lossless at MetLife
Harbaugh had a decent amount of history on the line coming into the game:
- Their first five-game home win streak since 2016.
- Their first 4-0 home start since 2008.
- Their third straight game with at least 27 points for the first time since 2015.
MetLife Stadium has been a fortress for the G-Men this season, but it might not be as impenetrable as once thought. Goodbye, five-game home winning streak. Goodbye, first 4-0 home start in 18 years. The Giants are no longer lossless at MetLife, and that’s a bummer. Their next chance to defend the homeland will be November 12, in a Thursday Night Football matchup against the Commanders.
At least they got to the 27-point mark. In baseball terms, batting .333 is Silver Slugger-worthy.
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