Michigan Alum Rich’s 100% Biased Take on JJ McCarthy Getting a W in His First Start for the Giants

Rich opened with a disclaimer he did not bother to soften. "I'm biased. I love J.J. McCarthy," he said. "God, do I love this guy."

The reasons start in Ann Arbor. McCarthy lost one game at Michigan, the bowl game against TCU, and won 27 others. "Kid's a winner," Rich said. Minnesota took a chance on him and it did not work out, and Rich is content to leave it there. "Let's just box that up," he said, adding that he is sure "that box has a lot of stories to tell if opened."

When Jackson Dart went down, the Giants decided to roll the dice. Rich made the point that rolling the dice here was not only about risk. "It's like, what if it works out?" he said. "That's a first-class problem to be had."

One start in, it looks like a giant leap down that path. McCarthy did not turn the ball over against a Houston Texans defense that was all over it. He went 20 of 28 for 252 yards, and Rich said he was "slinging it at times, making throws that were eye-popping and professional grade." Malik Nabers added another 100-yard receiving game. Three weeks ago, Rich noted, people were wondering what was happening with this kid's career.

He also handed out credit to John Harbaugh, who was willing to go get "my brother's championship quarterback" even knowing it would invite questions about Dart. Harbaugh also challenged his running backs. Cam Skattebo, who Harbaugh said was fumbling too much, saw only six touches, and after sending Najee Harris packing, Harbaugh told the room he wanted somebody to step forward. Against Houston, Tyrone Tracy Jr., Skattebo and Devin Singletary all scored, with a long run in overtime setting up Singletary's winner. It was the Giants' first game with three different running backs rushing for a score since Week 10 of 1990, when Lewis Tillman, Rodney Hampton and Ottis Anderson did it. It was also their largest upset win since beating the Seahawks in Seattle in 2020.

The Giants are now 4-2-1, while the 2-4 Cowboys and Eagles battled it out on Monday night and the Commanders sit at one win and one tie. Harbaugh called the win "a massive energy shot in the arm," but added, "It doesn't mean anything if you don't build on it." Coming off the bye, New York visits Philadelphia and then faces Washington on Thursday night, which Harbaugh called the "two most important games of the season." He said this was "a really high-pressure game for our team. We didn't talk about that, but they all knew how important this game was, and they responded accordingly."

Rich sees a 5-day stretch that could leave the Giants at 6-2-1, and he liked how McCarthy handled the pressure. "This kid was cool as a cucumber," Rich said. "I didn't look at that game and think for one second he's in over his head."

McCarthy, for his part, shrugged off the lack of touchdown passes. "Truly, the only stat I care about is going 1 and 0," he said. "If the running backs are getting their touches and getting their touchdowns, I'm as happy as I can be."

That is a familiar refrain for Rich. McCarthy heard the same knocks at Michigan, that he did not throw touchdowns and relied on the run game, and answered them with a national championship. Rich imagined McCarthy thinking about handing off to Blake Corum "a ton of times," finding Colston Loveland and Roman Wilson, and beating Michael Penix and Washington. "Not his first rodeo," Rich said.

Harbaugh offered a broader view of what McCarthy has been through. "Guys have scars. He has scars," he said. "He's been wounded. He's been broken. He's been battered. But you heal stronger." He walked through the national title, the high pick, the benching, the ridicule and the trade, and called every step good because "it's made me stronger." His summary: "Failure is not final."

Rich noted Harbaugh knows something about that himself, having been told he was no longer needed after a decade and a half. In New York, the plan for Dart was surely part of his interview, and when Dart went down, the Giants pivoted to someone from the same age group and decided to "pour that champagne and have that problem." It is one game, Rich acknowledged. But McCarthy's number went from Minnesota's nine to New York's 18. "You go, JJ," Rich said.