{"id":882,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/882","headline":"Giants' QB future unclear after McCarthy rally falls short in loss to Saints","dek":"J.J. McCarthy nearly erased a 24-point deficit after replacing Jameis Winston, but New Orleans held on to win 34-27.","body":"The Jameis Winston era in New York hit a breaking point Sunday. After Winston threw his second interception of the day to open the fourth quarter, Giants coach John Harbaugh benched him and turned to J.J. McCarthy, who nearly pulled off a wild comeback.\n\nMcCarthy threw for 243 yards and helped the Giants score 17 points in the final stretch, cutting what had been a 24-point hole down to just seven. He drove New York to the Saints' 14-yard-line on the last possession, but a fourth-down pass intended for tight end Isaiah Likely in the end zone fell incomplete. The Saints escaped with a 34-27 win.\n\nAfterward, Harbaugh praised McCarthy for giving the team \"a chance to win the game,\" while cautioning that playing from behind in a desperate spot is different from running the offense under normal circumstances. He declined to name a starting quarterback for Week 7's matchup with the Texans, leaving both the quarterback job and the Giants' running back situation unresolved heading into practice this week.","published_at":"2026-10-19T06:03:42.538373+00:00","source_count":4,"written_from":[{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Giants' QB and RB situations left unsettled after home loss to Saints","url":"https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/50214248/giants-john-harbaugh-not-ready-name-week-7-starter-qb"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"John Harbaugh really left the door open to benching Jameis Winston for J.J. McCarthy","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/john-harbaugh-really-left-door-223250443.html"},{"outlet":"Pro Football Talk","publisher":"NBC Sports","title":"John Harbaugh on Week 7 QB: Now is not the time to make decision","url":"https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/john-harbaugh-on-week-7-qb-now-is-not-the-time-to-make-decision"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"John Harbaugh on Week 7 QB: Now is not the time to make decision","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/john-harbaugh-week-7-qb-210034118.html"},{"outlet":"New York Post","publisher":"New York Post","title":"Giants shouldn’t give up on Jameis Winston for J.J. McCarthy just yet — with plenty reasons why","url":"https://nypost.com/2026/10/18/sports/giants-shouldnt-give-up-on-jameis-winston-for-j-j-mccarthy-just-yet/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Giants’ Jameis Winston sounds off on uncertain outlook after getting benched for JJ McCarthy","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/giants-jameis-winston-sounds-off-010736125.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F1018%2Fr1732633_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg","credit":"ESPN","width":1295},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}