The Giants may have dodged a major scare with JJ McCarthy.
After leaving Sunday’s 19-11 win over the Philadelphia Eagles for one series with a shot to the midsection, the quarterback is now trending toward being available again when New York hosts the Washington Commanders on Thursday night. McCarthy’s issue has been described as a hip pointer, and on Monday coach John Harbaugh said McCarthy is "doing well" and that it "does look like he's going to play" against Washington.
That’s a big development for a Giants team that has started to build momentum with McCarthy under center. New York is 2-0 in games he has started, and Sunday’s victory in Philadelphia gave the franchise its first win there since 2013.
McCarthy’s numbers against the Eagles were steady if unspectacular: 12 of 19 for 127 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions. In his first start for the Giants, he was sharper through the air, going 20 of 28 for 252 yards in an overtime win over the Houston Texans, again without a touchdown or a pick.
The Giants’ lone touchdown Sunday came while McCarthy was out. Jameis Winston, who had gone 2-1-1 as New York’s starter earlier this season before being replaced by McCarthy, finished a 14-play, 76-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely with 2:30 left in the third quarter. Winston completed 6 of 8 passes for 71 yards on the march, which chewed up nearly eight minutes.
When McCarthy came back in, he helped close the door. On the next possession, he guided a 13-play, 54-yard scoring drive and made two key third-down plays himself - an 11-yard completion to Malik Nabers on third-and-5 and an 11-yard run on third-and-10 that moved the Giants into field-goal range.
The win kept New York alone in first place in the NFC East. Thursday’s matchup will come nearly a month after the Giants and Commanders played to a tie, a game that ended after Washington botched the final seconds of overtime.
In Other News...
Commanders Center Problem Has Become Impossible To Ignore
After the loss to the Rams dropped Washington to 2-5-1, the offensive line again became impossible to separate from the bigger story of how this season has gone. The center position, in particular, has turned into a weekly source of instability, and it is hard to ignore how much of that traces back to the offseason decision-making that left the Commanders leaning on Nick Allegretti after moving on from Tyler Biadasz.
The issue is not just one bad Sunday, either. Injuries have already forced the Commanders to keep adjusting in the middle of the line, and the result has been a unit that never seems to settle into a rhythm. For a team trying to build around a young offense, the center spot has become one of the clearest reminders that the margin for error is shrinking fast. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Nearly Flipped Last Rams Meeting But The Result Still Stung
The last time Washington saw the Rams, the game had the feel of a blowout before the Commanders made it interesting late. At SoFi Stadium in Week 15, Los Angeles controlled most of the afternoon and carried a 28-7 lead into the stretch, only for Washington to find some life behind Jacoby Brissett and a pair of late touchdown passes.
Even with the rally, the Commanders never fully erased the damage from the earlier mistakes and missed chances that put them in the hole. Los Angeles still walked away with a 28-20 win after closing out the final moments, leaving Washington with the kind of near-miss that lingers because it was close enough to wonder what might have changed with one cleaner finish. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Left Tackle Problem Is Becoming Impossible To Ignore
When Laremy Tunsil went down with a torn triceps in training camp, the Commanders had to reshuffle quickly and hand Brandon Coleman the blindside tackle job. It was always going to be a difficult ask, but the recent game against the Rams made the adjustment look even more precarious, with Colemans struggles putting a spotlight on a position the team can hardly afford to get wrong.
The bigger problem is the lack of easy answers behind him. Washington does not have much depth at left tackle, so every rough outing only sharpens the internal debate about how to stabilize the spot before it becomes a season-long issue. For now, the Commanders are left weighing whether to ride it out or make a move from outside the starting five. [Read more 🡒]