Harbaugh Credits McCarthy, Skattebo and 'Lord God in Heaven' After Giants' Overtime Win Over Texans

John Harbaugh began his postgame news conference on Sunday by giving thanks, and he started with God. The New York Giants coach called himself humbly grateful to his Lord, his protector and stronghold, the Lord God in heaven. Then he turned to his players. What the Giants had done to the Houston Texans in overtime, he said, was a player's win.

Two players in particular carried it. Running back Cam Skattebo rushed for a career-high 124 yards. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy won for the first time as the Giants' starter. Neither was the plan when the season began. The expectation had been a young quarterback and a young running back doing big things, but the quarterback was supposed to be Jaxson Dart, and Skattebo had to climb out of the coaching staff's doghouse first. Harbaugh had benched him the week before.

Skattebo's day showed how hard he ran. On New York's second possession, he took a handoff from McCarthy, found a hole, lowered his head and ran over Texans safety M.J. Stewart. He was flagged for unnecessary roughness because he had lowered his head before contact, and the penalty cost the Giants 15 yards. The Fox piece noted, with some amusement, that Larry Csonka, Jim Brown and Earl Campbell would have found the call foreign.

The flag did not slow him. Skattebo scored on a 16-yard run. In overtime he broke off a 42-yard run that put the Giants at the Houston 28-yard line, close enough that a field goal would have won it. They did not need one. Devin Singletary ran in for a touchdown on the next play to end the game. Harbaugh said his running back played with a fierce joy.

McCarthy's afternoon was steadier than spectacular. He was named the starter on Wednesday, succeeding Jameis Winston, who had taken over from the injured Dart. He had been with the team only 27 days, since the trade that brought him from the Minnesota Vikings. He completed 20 of 28 passes for 252 yards. He threw no touchdown pass, but he also threw no interception and lost no fumble. Harbaugh said McCarthy did not play perfectly but played a heck of a football game, and that he deserved a lot of credit.

Harbaugh framed the result as an answer to a question he had raised himself. Before the game, he said, the team was going to find out about its guys, and the performance tells you who they are. The challenges included his own decision to bench Skattebo.

The standings give the win some weight. The Giants are the only team in the NFC East with a winning record. With a quarterback who is practically new and a leading rusher who has found his footing again, the Fox analysis argues the team can stay relevant even without Dart. Harbaugh put it more simply: the Giants, he said, are going to be in it until the end now.