New York Giants Show True Colors in Brutal Loss to Saints

The New York Giants made it interesting, but ultimately, their late rally fell short, as they lost to the New Orleans Saints by a score of 34-27 on Sunday.

The Giants actually got out to a 10-0 lead in this game ... and then watched as the Saints rattled off 34 unanswered points.

The collapse led to the benching of Jameis Winston, who went 14-for-26 with 152 yards, a touchdown and a couple of interceptions.

J.J. McCarthy certainly dazzled down the stretch, leading New York to 17 unanswered points of its own and just coming up short of completing a comeback inside New Orleans territory as time expired.

Based on the way McCarthy looked in the fourth quarter, he may have earned himself the start next week against the Houston Texans.

Otherwise, though, the Giants showed their true colors in this contest.

Yes, New York still sits above .500 at 3-2-1, but let's keep in mind that the preceding three weeks — which featured two wins and a tie — came at the expense of three awful teams.

The Saints came into this game at 1-4, so they weren't much better than New York's previous opponents. But the Giants looked even worse.

Cam Skattebo was benched and didn't get a single carry after fumbling four times over the first five games, but didn't matter, as New York's running backs combined for 34 yards on the ground. The Giants' leading rusher? McCarthy, who carried the ball twice for 26 yards.

Malik Nabers and Isaiah Likely were both brilliant again, but New York's lack of wide receiver depth is very evident. As for the Giants' pass rush? Shut out with zero sacks.

New York now has just eight sacks through six games, which is inexcusable with or without Brian Burns.

But really, it was the miscues — four turnovers and 10 penalties — that doomed Big Blue in this affair, and that's something that was supposed to be cleaned up under John Harbaugh.

Harbaugh has certainly done a tremendous job with this team thus far, but there is no question that the Giants have some very obvious holes, especially with Jaxson Dart and Burns both out for the season.

New York remains a playoff contender thanks to the ineptitude of the rest of the NFC East, but can the Giants be called a good team just yet? No.

They're definitely better than last year, but Sunday's embarrassing home loss to the Saints was proof positive that they have a long way to go.

Things won't get any easier next week, as New York will now head on the road to battle a Texans squad that appears to be finding its groove.

We'll see how the Giants respond, and whether or not McCarthy is under center.