LANDOVER, Md. — JJ McCarthy is making his Giants debut, but he feels further away than ever from taking over as the starting quarterback.
McCarthy, who was acquired in a trade with the Vikings two weeks ago to help in the absence of Jaxson Dart, had five snaps — two rushes for 2 yards and two passes that were negated by penalties — to help the Giants come back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game at 27-27.
“I think we’re going to grow,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “We’re in a situation where it’s necessary no matter what. Sometimes it works. Most of the time, it works — we hope, if we get to where we want to go — but sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve had an opportunity to play a big role in a couple of these projects.”
Winston improved his job security by passing for 326 yards and three touchdowns. McCarthy’s only two passes were a jet sweep and a bubble screen — nothing on the field.
“Coaches are paid a lot of money to make decisions,” Winston said. “I had the opportunity to play with one of the best players [RPO quarterbacks] All time at Taysom Hill. So whatever is needed [team] To win, that’s what I’m in for. ”
Commanders head coach Dan Quinn lamented that he didn’t kick a 42-yard field goal that would have won the game 11 seconds into the game and then made another play that allowed the clock to run out.
“I didn’t need to put him in that position at all,” said Quinn, the coach who lost Super Bowl 51 when the Falcons led by 25 points. “We don’t need to get more. Let’s win the game right away.”
The Giants’ record of 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss shows that they haven’t learned how to win on the road. They were defeated by the Rams in Week 2 in Inglewood, Calif., and failed to win (or lose) to the Commanders in their first NFC East road game.
“It’s hard to win on the road,” nose tackle DJ Reader told the Washington Post. “People are proud, their families are watching. We hit the road, last time we got beat. This time we got a draw. We’ve got to go get the ‘dub’ next time.”
In his first NFC East road game, Harbaugh was impressed by the traveling contingent of Giants fans.
“Wow, I mean our fans are loud,” he said. “Especially at the end of the game, it was really something to watch. Really proud of our fans.”