If Colt McCoy had the goods to be a steady starting NFL quarterback, he would have been one by now. But despite having the coolest name in pro football, McCoy lives in the whimsical world of a career backup. He was good enough to start during the Giants’ monstrous upset of the Seahawks in Seattle, but to be fair, Big Blue is McCoy's fourth NFL team in 10 years.
So the Giants benched McCoy despite the win, shoved a still-hobbled Daniel Jones back on the gridiron, and got spanked by the freefalling Arizona Cardinals, who had lost three straight entering MetLife Stadium.
Part of being a good team is depth, and having a solid bench. It means teams have to harness their backups so when games like this, the biggest of the year on Sunday night against the Cleveland Browns, come along, the team can deliver a big performance no matter who is missing.
Unfortunately, it looks like Big Blue will need more subs than expected. Jones is out so McCoy is in, guard Kevin Zeitler is questionable with a bum shoulder, and James Bradberry, who has become one of the top cover corners in the league, was a close exposure and is now on the COVID-19 list. And on the coaching staff, the G-Men have suffered another pandemic blow, this time to offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who will be replaced by a character and former caricature, Freddie Kitchens – a man who should find those opposing duds incentive enough to win, after being canned by Cleveland as their head coach last year.
The 5-8 Giants were flexed into this Sunday night game with the 9-4 Browns in part because both teams were in the mix, even without the OBJ drama. No doubt Cleveland is the sexy pick, the more interesting team, and nearly a touchdown favorite – but Big Blue came a long way to get here. When they were 1-7, no one was projecting the Giants as having any part in the playoff picture, but just last week they had a 48 percent chance to win the NFC East (now down to 17).
And while this is the worst time to test your bench, particularly at quarterback, this is a really bad time to lose Bradberry. The former second-round pick of the Panthers has been a stud for the G-Men, leading the NFL with 14 pass break-ups. Even without OBJ, Cleveland has some dangerous wideouts, so more than ever, the Giants will rely on their front seven to pressure Baker Mayfield, who's been rather turbulent in terms of production.
Last week, the former No. 1 pick lit up the Baltimore Ravens, a club with one of the five best defenses in the NFL. Yet he also got crushed by the same team in Week 1, throwing for a mere 181 yards while completing 53 percent of his passes on September 13, as opposed to 343 yards and 60 percent Monday night.
Unfortunately for the Browns, both games were losses, but it’s hard to tell which one stings more.
So the Giants, despite their injury issues, can win this game. The Browns recently lost at home to a lost Las Vegas Raiders team. They have a fine record, but also the best record for any NFL team that has surrendered more points (368) than they've scored (348). In fact, they are the only NFL team at or above .500 to have such a scoring disparity – even the 6-7 Washington Football Team, whom the Giants defeated twice this year, have scored 12 points more than they've yielded.
Whether good or bad Baker shows up, the Giants need to win this game. They were so bad against Arizona last week you may care to give them a mulligan, something so inexplicably ugly that there's no explanation for it. Toss out the tape, film, technique, etc. Let's assume these are the same Giants who flew to Seattle and shocked the Seahawks, while baffling Russell Wilson all night. If they can do that to a better team than the Browns, on the road, then surely they can win this one, the first of three, if Big Blue is to keep their slim playoff hopes on life support.
Follow Jason Keidel on Twitter: @JasonKeidel
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