EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants have a quarterback decision to make. They can go with the veteran Jameis Winston, who just lost his first game as a starter this season, or the recently acquired and still somewhat unknown J.J. McCarthy on the road Sunday against the Houston Texans (1 p.m. ET, Fox).
Coach John Harbaugh declined to make a decision on Monday, although it does appear to be coming soon with the Giants (3-2-1) scheduled to have a team meeting on Tuesday and their first practice of the week on Wednesday.
Just when it appeared Winston had enclosed his vice grip on the starting job, McCarthy went out Sunday and opened eyes with his fourth-quarter performance. He had 243 yards passing and led three scoring drives in less than 12 minutes.
"I thought he came in there and did a heck of a job given the circumstances," Harbaugh said.
Just like that, a quarterback conundrum was born, leaving Harbaugh with two realistic options to be his starting quarterback this week.
Here's a closer look at the decision:
Jameis Winston
Pros
Winston has been the quarterback ever since Jaxson Dart hurt his knee in the second quarter of a Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. It's been an up and down five games for Winston, but Sunday against the Saints was his first loss in four starts. The Giants are 2-1-1 since Winston took over as the starter and are in first place in the NFC East. They aren't in a position where they need to make any panic moves. Switching QBs can be viewed as a panic move.
Winston has seven touchdown passes and four interceptions in his four starts. So it's not as if the Giants haven't been able to get into the end zone with him at quarterback. Only seven quarterbacks have thrown more touchdown passes than Winston during that span this season.
Winston also has done it without a consistent run game. The Giants are 22nd in the NFL, averaging just 3.8 yards per carry over the past four games.
What Winston does have in his back pocket is time on task with his top receivers -- wide receiver Malik Nabers and tight end Isaiah Likely. They've spent the past month getting on the same page. Nabers has three straight 100-yard games. Likely (383 receiving yards) is less than 100 yards shy of setting a new career high. It's only Week 7.
Nabers, Likely and the locker room have full confidence in Winston. They've already seen they can win games with him as the quarterback and watched him play at a relatively high level throughout his career. They know that's in him.
"We all believe in Jameis," fullback Patrick Ricard said. "Jameis puts everything into this. He's a great leader. We know what he's capable of but I guess we'll see."
Cons
The Jameis Winston experience. With Winston come inconsistent plays and mistakes. His four interceptions are tied for fifth most since becoming the starter. His 45.6 QBR is 22nd of 30 qualifying quarterbacks.
So it's not as if Winston has played great. But he's played well enough to win games.
If the Giants are dreaming about the potential for better quarterback play ...
J.J. McCarthy
Pros
The element of the unknown is perhaps the most attractive element of McCarthy. He has talent as a top 10 pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 and, who knows, there might be high-end quarterback play buried somewhere in there.
At the very least, McCarthy flashed that potential in his short stint on Sunday. It was impressive.
So was McCarthy's ability to throw the ball deep downfield. He completed 3-of-4 passes for 119 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions on passes 20 air yards or more. Winston did not attempt such a pass against the Saints.
Harbaugh said he would judge the quarterbacks based on "performance." And it's hard to argue what McCarthy did leading the Giants on three scoring drives and close to a fourth even though it was in a helter-skelter football circumstance trying to rally in the final minutes.
McCarthy could also provide a much-needed boost to the running game. The Giants designed an offense for Dart filled with zone-reads and quarterback rollouts. That's better suited to McCarthy's game than Winston's. Harbaugh concedes that.
"The elements that we're talking about with some of the read plays and some of the different things you do moving the quarterback around," Harbaugh said, "those are definitely things that are part of the equation."
The Giants are looking for a way to jumpstart their run game, and McCarthy might be it.
Cons
A young and relatively inexperienced quarterback like McCarthy making his first start on the road against a defense like the Texans isn't ideal. Houston's defense hasn't been great this season, but they're still third in the NFL with 18 sacks and have perhaps the league's best pass rush duo with Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter on the edges.
McCarthy has a 41.2% completion percentage and -9.3 completion percentage over expectation (CPOE) under pressure since the start of last season. That would be in the bottom half of the league among qualifiers.
Winston has a much more serviceable 50.0% completion percentage and -0.4 CPOE. That would seem to give him a better chance of against the Texans.
McCarthy also has very few reps with Nabers and Likely, having arrived three weeks ago.
"You guys saw them," McCarthy said on Sunday, referring to the fourth quarter against the Saints.
They had almost no on-field working relationship prior to this past weekend. Only a few sides on the throw at practice and pregame warmups.
It makes the bye week perhaps a better spot to make the switch (if necessary) in order to avoid the possibility of crushing McCarthy's confidence after an already rocky introduction to the NFL in Minnesota.