Giants get by Texans via McCarthy, running game
If you were to tell Giants fans at the beginning of the season that they would be top of the (admittedly weak) NFC East by their bye week, chances are most of them would’ve called you crazy (myself included). If you were to then them tell that would be the case without Jaxson Dart under center, they would’ve sent you to an insane asylum.
But with the nutty nature of the NFL in 2026, anything is possible.
The G-Men, now on their third starting quarterback of the year, sit with a 4-2-1 record and just pulled off a massive 27-21 overtime victory at the Texans. Last week’s loss to the Saints could’ve been the beginning of the end for Big Blue where they would come back down to earth and miss out on the playoffs. But now? There’s a even greater sense of hope despite their injury-filled circumstances.
I thought the Giants would stick with Jameis Winston under center against the Texans despite a poor performance the week prior. I figured a bad performance from Winston would see J.J. McCarthy start after the bye week just to get him even more acclimated to the Giants’ system. But head coach John Harbaugh saw enough out of his fourth quarter near-heroics last week to give him the keys for their trip to Houston.
It’s one thing to put up a lot of yards in “garbage time” against the Saints’ prevent defense. But McCarthy more than proved himself against a vaunted Houston defense and looked ultra sharp. A 71% completion rate (20 of 28 passes). 252 yards. A 99.1 passer rating. Most importantly, zero turnovers. That’s certainly a refreshing change from their previous starter.
You could nitpick and say that he didn’t throw for any touchdowns, so it wasn’t that impressive of a performance. To that I say: Were you even watching the game? In the first quarter, McCarthy threw a 42-yard dot to Malik Nabers that set up a short touchdown run from Tyron Tracy Jr.. Then there was a nice throw to rookie wideout Malachi Fields on the following drive, where they came up empty-handed thanks to a missed Dominic Zvada field goal (more on him later). One quarter later, another big throw from McCarthy found tight end Thomas Fidone wide open for what looked like a walk-in touchdowns. But he was tackled at the 1-yard line to allow Winston to punch it in. In the last drive of the first half, he threw another dot to Nabers, but again they were let down by a missed field goal.
McCarthy’s strong throws continued in the second half, including one to Fields to get them into the red zone and set up a Cam Skattebo rushing score. All of this is to say, McCarthy’s debut against the Saints was not a fluke. He appears to be more than competent enough to lead the Giants’ offense the rest of the season and potentially to the playoffs. But like Dart, the big question will be if he can stay healthy. That was a big problem in Minnesota and will continue to be of note now in New York.
McCarthy was far from the only hero in the win over Houston. How about that running game? Earlier in the week, Harbaugh challenged his running back room to step up after a quiet performance against the Saints, though that was in part due to Skattebo getting zero touches as “punishment” for fumbling against the Commanders the week prior. He sent even more of a message by cutting Najee Harris from that room on Tuesday. That clearly lit a fire not only under Skattebo but also under Tracy Jr. and Singletary. All three backs recorded a rushing touchdown, with Singletary’s run being the game-winner. Before that TD run, Skattebo rattled off a 42-yard rush, the longest of his career to cap off his first 100-yard game in the pros, finishing with 124 yards.
So the G-Men seemed to have answered questions surrounding their quarterback and running back situations. Now comes the most pressing one: kicking. Zvada struggled against Houston with two missed field goals, one understandable from 56 yards, the other unacceptable from 44 yards, especially in a dome. While Harbaugh said after the game he’s “not worried” about the former Michigan kicker, it might be wise to bring in another kicker in during the bye week to challenge him. Hopefully not Justin Tucker, though. Anybody but him.
A new low for Gang Green
Following a hard-fought loss to the Patriots last week, the Jets were gifted a golden opportunity to get back into the win column yesterday. The winless Dolphins were coming to town. This is a Miami team that many people believed could be first team since the 2017 Browns to go the entire campaign without a single victory. It’s a Miami team that got rid of virtually everybody during the offseason. The one notable player that stayed on, running back De’Von Achane, tore his ACL in Week 3 and is out for the rest of the year.
Seems like an easy win, right? That is, until you realize this is the New York Jets we’re talking about.
Granted, I did pick the Jets to beat the Dolphins as part of our Pigskin Pick’Em contest. I figured a Jets team that has played hard against some tough opponents this year would not fall flat on their face against one of the few inferior opponents they’ll face all season. But lo and behold through 60 minutes played, Miami came out of MetLife Stadium with a 28-25 victory.
Not only did the Dolphins enter Sunday’s contest without a win, they had also never led at any point throughout the season. A seven-play, 76-yard opening drive changed that with a Caleb Douglas touchdown grab. New York responded just over two minutes later with Mason Taylor finding the end zone. But the offense dried up for the rest of the half, including a Geno Smith interception, and Miami went up 21-7 at halftime.
The miscues continued in the second half with Jason Sanders ringing a 40-yard field goal attempt off the upright. The Jets seemed to get their act together with 10 unanswered points, including an Omar Cooper Jr. touchdown reception for the second straight week. But Douglas struck again for Miami, evading a Minkah Fitzpatrick tackle attempt to take it to the house for a 63-yard score and put them up by 11. Another Taylor TD grab proved to be just consolation, and that brought an end to an embarrassing defeat. Cue everybody in the media using their favorite word to describe this game: disgrace. Oh look, there’s Mike Greenberg on cue.
Head coach Aaron Glenn’s seat was fairly warm entering this game. Well, consider it red-hot now. Sitting at 2-5 and the NFL website giving them only a 7% chance to make the playoffs, it feels like this is the usual point in the Jets’ season where they start to unravel. More and more fans are calling for Glenn to be fired, and it’s hard to blame them for thinking so.
It’s clear that the Jets do have some strong young talent on the team, a big part in why they’ve been in close games against superior competition. But part of why they have been unable to come out in those tight games comes down to coaching. Just look at the Giants: plenty of close losses last year with poor coaching, and all of a sudden with an upgrade at head coach, those have turned into close wins. That’s no coincidence. Glenn’s multiple game managing mishaps, in particular at the end of the first half, continue to pile up. While ownerships wants to preach patience with how they handle their coaches, they could very soon reach their breaking point again.
Quite a few names have already been thrown around as potential replacements for Glenn. Mike Tomlin, anyone? Eh, he’s probably too busy playing Minecraft. How about Sean McDermott? Sure, no Super Bowl appearance, but he does have a winning track record.
Until the Jets turn things around, the calls for Glenn to be ousted will only continue to grow, especially if they lose to the Raiders next week.
A recap of Section IV soccer tournament action so far
It was a busy past week for yours truly with the high school soccer postseason in full swing, and it will continue to be the same this week as we inch close to Section IV championship soccer. There was plenty of first round and quarterfinal action involving a bunch of our local teams.
We begin on Tuesday, where six local girls soccer teams begin their journeys in sectionals with Class C first round action. The lone all-local matchup was an all-IAC North Small Division matchup between #3 Southern Cayuga and #14 Moravia. Usually this type of matchup provides a pretty one-sided result, but the Blue Devils gave the Falcons a well-fought and even battle through the opening 55 minutes. But Southern Cayuga broke the deadlock through Sophia Pinckney, and two Rosie Glennon strikes later, the Falcons came out victorious 3-0.
Two more teams advanced to the quarterfinals. #6 Marathon dispatched #11 Tioga 3-0 courtesy of goals from Addie Howe, Paityn Contri and Macie Quail. #7 Odessa-Montour also won 3-0 over #10 Delhi with three different goalscorers: Avery Nolan, Zuri Garrison and Aspyn Skinner. But two other teams had their seasons come to a close. #12 Groton nearly pulled off an upset over #5 Unatego/Franklin, but the Spartan Devils scored with under 13 minutes to go to win it 3-2. #9 Watkins Glen fell to #8 Bainbridge-Guilford 4-0.
Wednesday was a very light slate of local first round matchups in boys soccer. In Class C, #10 Groton made the two-hour trip east to take on #7 Walton/Downsville. Both teams traded goals in the opening four minutes, including a wonderful equalizer from the Red Hawks’ Timmy Forehand with a long-range, tight-angled effort looping over the goalkeeper and into the net. But the War Eagles scored four unanswered goals to come out on top 5-1. In Class D, #9 Newfield had an even longer road trip, venturing three hours to #8 Hunter-Tannersville, where they lost 2-0.
Friday saw another six local girls soccer team have quarterfinal, including two all-IAC matchups. The lone quarterfinal of local interested pitted #4 Spencer-Van Etten/Candor against #5 Lansing. The Eagles struck first through Allie Lyon. That was her 38th goal of the season, breaking the program record for single-season goals, previously held by Candor’s Kristen Cleveland in the 2007 season. Lyon would add a second from the penalty spot in the second half before a 45-yard free kick from Meradyth Stouffer closed out a convincing 3-0 win, the Eagles’ first victory in combined program history (since 2016) in sectionals. The scoreline could have been a lot worse had it not been for some outstanding saves from Nasia Whyte in net for the Bobcats. The Eagles will head to #1 Chenango Valley for Tuesday’s semifinal.
In Class C, #3 Southern Cayuga hosted another division opponent in #6 Marathon. All they needed was Haylee Young scoring from a free kick to edge the Olympians 1-0 and will venture to #2 Greene for the semifinal. The Trojans ended #7 Odessa-Montour‘s great turnaround season with a 4-0 victory. #1 Trumansburg took care of business against #8 Bainbridge-Guilford 2-0, both goals scored by Ellie Ouckama. They’ll host #4 Elmira Notre Dame on Tuesday.
Saturday was by far the busiest day with eight quarterfinal matchups involving local teams. In Class D, #1 Marathon blanked #8 Hunter-Tannersville 4-0 and will welcome #4 Elmira Notre Dame to town on Wednesday. The Crusaders defeated #5 Odessa-Montour 4-2.
In Class C, #2 Trumansburg got a bit of a scare against #7 Walton/Downsville. The Blue Raiders scored four minutes in through ZaoHan Ferrari, but the War Eagles had multiple chances to equalize. They did find the back of the net, only for it to be ruled out for offside. The Blue Raiders hang on for a 1-0 win and will host #6 Southern Cayuga for the semifinals. The Falcons pulled off the lone upset of all classes in boys soccer in a 3-2 thriller over #3 Oxford. The Falcons soared out to a 2-0 lead after just eight minutes of play, only for the Blackhawks to draw level. Southern Cayuga earned a penalty kick with 3 minutes left, where Hamilton Grande-Mendez sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and slotted it in for the win. That was Grande-Mendez’s second goal of the game (both from the penalty spot), while Skyler Wthie scored the other Southern Cayuga goal. Also in Class C, #5 Spencer-Van Etten/Candor fell to #4 Unatego/Franklin 7-1.
In Class B, #6 Dryden lost to #3 Chenango Forks 10-0 in the final game under head coach Laszlo Engel after 26 years at the helm. #7 Union Springs/Port Byron suffered a 6-0 defeat to #2 Oneonta.
But the best game was saved for last between #4 Lansing and #5 Chenango Valley for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff. It was the third straight year the Bobcats would host the Warriors in the quarterfinals. Chenango Valley won on penalty kicks in 2024 and cruised past Lansing 5-0 last year. It seemed like the Warriors would coast their way to the semifinals again after going up 1-0 just 64 seconds in off an own goal and a Kosta Battisti 20-yard strike to double the lead later in the half. Other teams would have crumbled, but not this iteration of the Bobcats. With 16 minutes to go, Tyler Smith made a great save on one end, booted the ball forward to Deondre Smith to latch onto and score off of to give Lansing a lifeline. Then with 3 minutes to go, the Bobcats found the equalizer after bundling in a Jackson Tarbert long throw-in. In overtime, Lansing won another set piece with an Oscar Law corner kick. DeMario Smith raced in at the back post to head it in to complete an unforgettable 3-2 comeback victory. The Bobcats will head to #1 Susquehanna Valley for Tuesday night’s semifinal.
Two championship games are set for Thursday. Both Ithaca soccer teams will face Elmira in Horseheads for the Class AAA championship. The girls game is up first at 5:30 p.m. followed by the boys game at 7:15 p.m.. The Little Red girls team had to earn their spot in the final with a 1-0 overtime win in the semifinals over Corning thanks to a Sophie Templier strike.
Other things that caught my eye:
- Football is an incredibly humbling sport. One week, you might feel on top of the world, and the following week it can bring you back down to earth. That’s exactly what Cornell experienced over the weekend. Following their historic upset over #4 Lehigh, the Big Red fell to Brown 38-31 in overtime. Cornell was in control for most of the game, holding a 14-point lead entering the fourth quarter. But the Bears scored a pair of unanswered touchdowns, including one as time expired in regulation to force the extra period. While Brown scored off their possession, the Big Red was stopped in its tracks and turned it over on downs to end the game. Despite Garrett Bass-Sulpizio’s four total touchdowns (three of which were on the ground), the Big Red falls to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in Ivy League play. They’ll stay on the road this Saturday at Princeton as they hope to learn even more lessons from that tough-to-swallow defeat.
- In more positive news, Cornell men’s soccer clinched the Ivy League regular season title following Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Dartmouth. That means they have hosting rights for the tournament. There are still two more regular season games to be played: this Saturday at Yale and next Saturday vs. Columbia. The tourney begins November 12 with the semifinals, while the championship game is set for November 15. The 23rd-ranked Big Red is a perfect 5-0-0 in conference play.
- Back to college football, both local Division III teams remained first in their respective conferences. Ithaca had a challenging road test at Union, the same team who handed them their only defeat in the Liberty League last year and ended up keeping the Bombers out of the NCAA Tournament. It was an expectedly tight contest to start things off with the Bombers holding a 21-14 halftime lead. But as has so often been the case this year, Ithaca pulled away in the second half, shutting out the Garnet Chargers the rest of the way en route to a 35-14 victory. The Bombers (6-1, 5-0 Liberty League) are at Buffalo State on Saturday. Cortland, powered by 103 yards and three touchdowns on the ground from quarterback Mike Rescigno, took down St. John Fisher 28-20. While the scoreline looks close, the Red Dragons were in control the entire game, never trailing. Cortland (7-0, 6-0 Empire 8) remain home to battle Alfred State on Saturday. Also a shoutout to Ethan Gallo for setting the all-time career rushing touchdowns record with 46, surpassing Jaden AlfanoStJohn’s total of 45.
- Over to Section IV football, it was the final week of the regular season for Class D. Because of the expanded playoffs from four teams to eight, they’re starting their postseason a week earlier than usual with quarterfinal action. Watkins Glen/Odessa-Montour clinched the third seed after a 33-6 win over Newark Valley, who misses out on the playoffs. The Schuyler Storm shied away from the ground game for a change and focused more through the air, and it paid off with three passing touchdowns from Hunter Mowry. The Storm will host #6 Sidney for Friday’s quarterfinals. Groton earns the fifth seed following a 54-28 victory over Trumansburg. Kam McClain once again went off under center, throwing for 351 yards and five touchdowns while adding another TD on the ground. That’s now the third time this year he’s’ thrown for five TDs. The Red Hawks fly to #4 Deposit-Hancock on Friday. Despite the loss for the Blue Raiders, they’re into the playoffs at the seventh seed, though they have to travel to #2 Tioga for their quarterfinal matchup. The Tigers blanked Spencer-Van Etten/Candor 42-0 as the Eagles finish the year winless. As for other scores, Ithaca snapped a four-game losing streak with a 34-28 win over Windsor in their home finale. In eight-man, Moravia took down Newfield 46-12, and Dryden fell to Coventry Christian (Pennsylvania) 36-0.
- Congratulations to Southern Cayuga girls swimming for winning their first-ever IAC Championship. The Falcons totaled 408 points, beating out runner-up and host Lansing by 20 points. Sophomore Colleen Whitten was named MVP for winning four events (50 free, 100 fly, 400 free relay, 200 medley relay).
- Despite the Knicks unveiling their championship banner on opening night on Tuesday—yes, that includes their NBA Cup banner, too—it has not been a banner start to the season. With losses to the 76ers, Celtics and Magic, New York is the first defending champion since the 2011 Mavericks to begin the following campaign 0-3. We’ll see what ends up happening first: the Knicks bouncing back from their slow start or the Knicks’ coaching staff getting their rings. And while you’re at it, maybe don’t send out phishing emails for your employees giving them the false promise of claiming a championship ring. Never a dull moment with James Dolan in charge even with breaking a 53-year-long title drought.
