PHILADELPHIA — It seemed only fitting for the Giants to exorcise the demons of a 13-game losing streak at their House of Horrors in the most absurd way possible.
Jameis Winston came off the bench to lead a 14-play, 76-yard go-ahead third-quarter touchdown drive in the tense moments when it looked like the cursed Giants had lost a second starting quarterback to a significant injury, and those points held up Sunday in a 19-11 victory against the Eagles that featured otherwise putrid offense from both teams.
J.J. McCarthy spun into a big hit from Zack Baun on a quarterback-keeper and suffered a hip injury. With Winston, who was benched two games ago despite a 2-1-1 record as first up behind Jaxson Dart, on the field in an emergency, McCarthy tried a warm-up throw on the sideline.
McCarthy immediately grabbed for his right side in crumbling pain and headed for the medical tent, as visions of losing the NFC East Division lead and changing the plan to buy assets at Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline slipped into panicked fans’ minds.
With McCarthy off to the locker room, Winston went to work with a fourth-down sneak conversion, a 27-yard strike to Darnell Mooney and a low five-yard touchdown pass to a schemed open Isaiah Likely as the Giants grabbed a 13-8 lead.
McCarthy returned from the locker room just as the defense forced a punt. His re-emergence drew a cheer from a section of visiting fans and he ran down the bench slapping hands with teammates.
Dominic Zvada, who went into last week’s bye as a big question, kicked his third and fourth field goals in as many attempts in the fourth quarter with McCarthy back at the helm. McCarthy was limping between plays but still scrambled for a key first down.
Trailing by 11 points at the two-minute warning, the Eagles kicked a field goal and forced a three-and-out to get the ball back at their own 5-yard line with 1:32.
Darius Cooper nearly emerged from two defenders with a streaking 80-yard touchdown but the ball fell incomplete. Saquon Barkley, the former NFL Offensive Player of the Year, didn’t touch the ball on the final drive and finished with only 22 yards from scrimmage against his former team.
None of it was pretty, but the Giants (5-2-1) further buried the Eagles (2-7) in the NFC East without any sympathy for quarterback Joe Milton in his first career start.
Rookie first-round pick Arvell Reese – who was not a part of any of the Giants’ 13 consecutive losses since 2013 at Lincoln Financial Field – sacked Milton three times.
Milton, who wasn’t part of any of the Eagles’ 13 straight wins, was no better for the Eagles than the benched Tanner McKee. Jalen Hurts is out for the season due to blood clots, and five straight losses have sucked some of the hostility out of the Linc.
In fact, the Giants were so loose that special teamers, including Zaire Barnes, were flapping for their arms for their fan base to make more noise during intermissions.
Winston’s game-saving cameo was important because the Giants were completely unable to run the ball without the injured duo of Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy Jr.
Will that prompt John Harbaugh and Joe Schoen to meet the Colts’ asking price of a first-round pick (or the multi-pick equivalent) for Jonathan Taylor before Tuesday?
The Eagles led 8-6 at halftime because the Giants had two long drives stall out before reaching the red zone and settled for righting struggling kicker Zvada with field goals of 53 and 49 yards.
