The New York Giants’ three-game winning streak came to a crashing end on Sunday as they were defeated by the New Orleans Saints 34-27.

This was a wild game that consisted of runs. The Giants scored the first 10 points of the game, then the Saints scored the next 34, before New York scored the final 17 points of the game.

The Giants made a frantic comeback in the 4 th quarter and almost pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the franchise. Although there are no moral victories in a loss, the team deserves credit for how they fought back. We’ll take a look at the biggest takeaways from the game.

The Jameis Winston Experience Needs To Be Over

From the opening drive of the game, Jameis Winston was off the mark on his passes. On third down, he threw behind a wide-open Isaiah Likely, which would have given New York a first down.

Winston finished the game completing 14 out of 26 passes for 152 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He was also sacked four times, and some of those can be attributed to him holding onto the ball too long.

After his second interception to Julian Blackmon with the team down 27-10 with 12:28 remaining in the 4 th quarter, he was pulled for J.J. McCarthy following an 18-yard touchdown reception from Tyler Shough to Chris Olave to extend the lead to 34-10. McCarthy would throw an interception on his fourth pass attempt to Martin Emerson Jr., but that would be the lone mistake he made.

The former Michigan Wolverine quarterback sparked a furious comeback that resulted in two touchdowns and a field goal to cut the deficit to 34-27. Then, with 57 seconds left in the game and the ball at the Giants ‘ 29-yard line, he drove them down to the New Orleans 14-yard line.

His fourth-down pass to Likely was broken up in the end zone by Jonas Sanker to end the game. Although the comeback fell short, McCarthy was superb. He completed 11 out of 21 passes for 243 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He was also the team’s leading rusher with 26 yards on two runs.

Coming into the game, John Harbaugh probably wouldn’t consider a quarterback change until after their bye week. But after McCarthy’s performance, he needs to start next week against the Houston Texans. He gives them a new dimension with his running ability and makes the offense more dynamic.

Giants’ Run Defense Was Terrible

New Orleans entered the contest with a 29th-ranked rushing offense. The belief was the Giants would be able to shut down the rushing attack. That couldn’t have been further from the truth.

The Saints gained yards on 38 carries, led by Kendre Miller’s 70 yards on 20 carries. CJ Donaldson and Alvin Kamara combined for 73 yards on just 13 carries. If you’re a Giants fan, it was discouraging to see the front seven lose the battle of the line of scrimmage.

Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson will address this during film session and practice this week. Hopefully this will lead to a better performance next week.

Giants’ Running Game Was Shut Down

While the run defense was terrible, New York’s ground game was non-existent all afternoon.  They gained 84 yards on 20 carries, but McCarthy and wide receiver Darnell Mooney accounted for 46 of those on three rushes.

The running back trio of Tyrone Tracy Jr., Devin Singletary, and Najee Harris gained just 34 yards on 14 attempts. After his costly fumble last week, Cam Skattebo did not have a carry or a target. It’s clear Skattebo is in John Harbaugh’s doghouse; the question is how long it will last.

If you can’t run the ball with any consistency, it’s hard to win in the NFL. Something is going to have to change to get the ground game going. Whether it’s the scheme or technique, something needs to change to improve the running game. The schedule gets tougher in the second half of the season, and if this doesn’t improve, they’ll lose their lead in the NFC East.