Making his second appearance with the New York Giants since being traded from the Minnesota Vikings, quarterback JJ McCarthy threw his first touchdown pass for his new team in Sunday’s 34-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
With 5:04 left in the fourth quarter and the Giants trailing 34-18, McCarthy capped a three-play, 78-yard drive by hitting tight end Isaiah Likely on the left hash on a seam route for a 24-yard score.
Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Basketball league for the 2026-27 NBA season
Advertisement
The third-year QB entered the game with 11:25 left in the fourth and the Giants were facing a 34-10 deficit. He replaced Jameis Winston, who threw an interception on New York’s previous possession. The Saints took over at the New York 21-yard line and scored in two plays, capped by Tyler Shough connecting with Chris Olave for an 18-yard touchdown.
McCarthy’s first series ended with an interception. On the fifth play of the series, facing a third-and-10 from the Saints 44-yard line, McCarthy looked for Malachi Fields on a short drag route, but was spotted by Martin Emerson Jr.
But the Giants got the ball back two plays later when safety Jason Pinnock forced a fumble by running back CJ Donaldson. New York took over at its 48-yard line and took six plays to find the end zone on a 5-yard run by Tyrone Tracy Jr. McCarthy connected with Likely on a 2-point conversion to bring the Giants within two scores.
New York then forced a three-and-out by New Orleans and took over on offense with 5:54 left in regulation. McCarthy hit Charlie Jones for a 49-yard pass, then followed an incompletion with his scoring throw to Likely that cut the Saints’ lead to 10 points.
Advertisement
After the defense forced another three-and-out, the Giants followed up with a 7-yard, 69-yard drive that ended with a 41-yard Dominic Zvada field goal to bring New York within a touchdown.
The Giants had a chance to tie the score (or take the lead) with 0:57 left. But they used their last two timeouts on the previous defensive series. This likely factored into McCarthy’s decision-making process regarding New York’s final offensive play.
McCarthy opened the scoring with a 28-yard run and connected with Likely on a 20-yard gain, alternating with two runs to stop the clock. He then hit Malik Nabers for a 9-yard pass, followed by a dunk to stop the clock with 12 seconds left.
Advertisement
On the Giants’ final play, McCarthy appeared to have Nabers open for a touchdown under the goal posts, but made a bad read. He probably also could have run to the right for a first down on fourth-and-1. But if there were no timeouts left, the clock probably would have expired.
After not throwing a single throw in a brief appearance in last week’s overtime with the Washington Commanders, McCarthy finished with 243 passing yards – in less than 12 minutes – while completing 11 of 21 passes for 1 touchdown and 1 interception. He also ran for 26 yards on 2 carries.
The question now might be whether that performance was enough for head coach John Harbaugh to consider giving McCarthy the start next week with the Houston Texans.
Gn sports
