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Cover 3: What we learned about the Giants in Week 6

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The Giants.com crew members give their takeaways from Sunday's 34-27 loss to the Saints.

John Schmeelk: After the game, John Harbaugh was asked when he will start thinking about whether he makes a change at quarterback for Week 7. "Starts right now," the head coach said succinctly.

It will not be an easy decision to make. Jameis Winston threw two interceptions against the Saints and completed only 14 of 26 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown.

J.J. McCarthy came into the game with the Giants trailing 34-10 and threw for 243 yards, tying the franchise record for most in a quarter. But most of his yards came against a Saints defense that was playing mostly zone coverage and did not frequently bring pressure (he faced five blitzes, according to Next Gen Stats). He threw an interception and had other passes that Saints defensive backs had a chance to catch. He also had a scramble for 28 yards to help set up a late score.

The Texans' defense has not been nearly as dominant as it was last season, but they still rank 14th in defensive DVOA, and DeMeco Ryans took back play-calling the last two games. Does McCarthy know enough of the playbook so he can operate the offense at the level it needs to be at in order to have success against the Texans? That's a question only the Giants coaches can answer.

The Giants have the bye after the Texans game, which would give McCarthy another two weeks to learn the offense if Winston remains the starter this week. There are good arguments both ways and I'm curious to see what direction Harbaugh wants to go.

Dan Salomone: The Giants' three longest runs of the season have come from two quarterbacks and a wide receiver. "Somebody needs to step up and be the back," John Harbaugh said after the game. "And none of those guys have done that yet."

For the first time since Week 2, the Giants had all four running backs activated for gameday in addition to fullback Patrick Ricard. Taking away the rushing totals of wide receiver Darnell Mooney and quarterbacks Jameis Winston and J.J. McCarthy, the running back room totaled 34 yards on 14 carries against New Orleans, none of which came from Cam Skattebo. Tyrone Tracy Jr. did find the end zone twice – once through the air and another on the ground – but those numbers are not close to where they need to be.

"When one of those guys steps up to be the back, then they'll be the back," Harbaugh said. "That's your answer. And that's as honest as I can be about it. And they know that, too. And believe me, they're all hungry. They want to step up. One of those guys wants to step up. Somebody's going to step up and take that job. We're going to see who it is."

The New York Giants host the New Orleans Saints at MetLife Stadium in Week 6.

Matt Citak: For the second consecutive week, the Giants' run defense struggled to slow down their opponent. The Saints finished the game with 175 yards on 38 carries, good for an average of 4.6 yards per carry. It came from four different players, as Kendre Miller, CJ Donaldson, Alvin Kamara and Tyler Shough all had 32 or more yards on the ground. Miller led the group with 70 yards on 20 carries (3.5 avg.), while the other three all finished with averages of 4.9 yards per carry or higher (Donaldson and Shough were both over 6.0 yards per carry).

This performance came after the Commanders ran for 202 yards on the Giants in the Week 5 tie, led by quarterback Jayden Daniels' 103 yards and two scores. Over the first four weeks of the season, the Giants held three of their four opponents to 123 rushing yards or fewer, including two games under 82 yards on the ground.

It wasn't all bad as the run defense did come up with a few big stops in the fourth quarter. Miller was held to just 12 carries on his final six rush attempts, all of which came on the Saints' final three drives and all resulted in three-and-outs. Defensive lineman DJ Reader put together a strong performance with seven tackles, including one tackle for loss. Pro Football Focus had him down for seven run stops, which is a statistic the analytics site uses to constitute a "failure" or a loss for the offense based on the down and distance. This led to Reader being named to the PFF Team of the Week.

The Giants are going to need more from the run defense as a whole moving forward. It begins in Week 7, when they will face a Texans offense that has found significantly more success through the air than on the ground. The Texans rank fourth in the NFL in passing yards compared to 25th in rushing yards through the first six weeks of the season, and starting running back David Montgomery may miss another game with the groin injury he suffered in Week 4. This could be a good opportunity for the run defense to get back on track before the Week 8 bye.

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