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Jameis Winston Is Playing for Respect

Originally posted on Lindy's Sports | By Tony Owusu | Last updated Oct 12, 2026 10:08 AM ET

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New York Giants fans who assumed that their season was basically done after starting quarterback Jaxson Dart went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 2 are having to rethink their assumptions thanks to Jameis Winston.

The Giants lost that Week 2 game to the Rams 28-6, and Winston struggled mightily, completing just 41% of his passes and throwing a pick. But since then, the Giants haven’t lost a game, and Winston is a big reason why.

On Sunday, the Giants couldn’t pull out a Week 5 win against their division rivals, the Washington Commanders, but they settled for a tie and maintained their NFC East lead at 3-1-1. Thanks to the Philadelphia and Dallas losses that dropped each to 2-3, no matter what happens in Week 6, the Giants are guaranteed to remain the division leaders heading into Week 7.

The Giants could’ve easily folded after Dart went down, but Jameis Winston hasn’t let them.

Jameis Winston Has His Best Game of the Season

Usually, playing an NFC East game in driving rain, as the Giants did Sunday against the Commanders, means teams will rely heavily on the run.

But the Commanders bottled up the Giants’ running attack all afternoon, holding them to 103 yards. So the Giants turned to Winston to move the ball a lot.

Also read: Fantasy Football QB Rankings: Who To Start Week 6?

Jameis Winston finished the game attempting a whopping 54 passes. That’s only two off the 2026 league-high 56 attempts that have been reached twice this season, according to StatMuse.

Winston went 33/54 (61.1%) for 326 yards and 3 TDs. He added another 5 rushes for 27 yards on the ground for good measure. But it wasn’t a walk in the park for the 32-year-old former number 1 overall draft pick.

The Commanders held the Giants to just 77 yards in the first half as they fell behind 12-3. But the Giants flipped the switch in the second half, finishing the game with 408 total yards and a 27-27 tie. But before Winston could flip the script, there were plenty of Giants fans online begging for him to be benched for newly acquired quarterback JJ McCarthy.

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Giants Fans Want McCarthy, But Jameis Has Something to Say About That

The New York Giants traded a 5th-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings for former top-10 overall pick JJ McCarthy two weeks ago.

At the time, most people assumed the Giants were bringing in McCarthy to eventually become the starting quarterback, with Dart out for the season. It hasn’t quite worked out that way with Winston playing well enough to win. But that hasn’t kept some Giants fans from yearning for the McCarthy era to start.

Every mistake Winston makes is a reason to start McCarthy, according to some fans. Even when other people make mistakes, like a kicker missing a field goal, the only answer some fans have is starting McCarthy.

Even with the win, some fans still want to see McCarthy start, and soon.

McCarthy actually made his Giants debut Sunday, carrying the ball twice for two yards and attempting a pass that was eventually called back due to a penalty.

Last week, the New York media attempted to throw a little shade Jameis Winston’s way, calling him a backup quarterback; he was quick to correct the record.

¨It’s a privilege, whatever role that you get. And you keep saying backup, I’m not a backup no more. I’m a starter, so I’m getting the first team reps like the majority of them now,¨Winston explained.

¨I feel challenged to get better every single day. So I just think that’s the makeup of who I am as a person. Always looking for ways to build on the positives and eliminate the negatives.¨