One of the fan favorites on any football team historically has been the backup quarterback.
Whenever unhappiness arises with the starting signal-caller, calls for him to be benched and for the understudy to take center stage have been happening since I started watching the NFL regularly in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Jets fans wanted Richard Todd to be replaced by Matt Robinson and later by Pat Ryan, and though it sounds silly now, there were plenty of Giants fans who preferred them to go with Scott Brunner over Phil Simms after making an unexpected playoff run in 1981 while Simms was injured.
The Giants even won Super Bowl XXV with another backup QB, Jeff Hostetler, ably filling in for an injured Simms.
It feels as if having a capable No. 2 quarterback has never been more important — for the Jets and Giants and teams across the league.
And this season has shown that skimping on the ultimate safety net is never a wise move, when the in-case-of-emergency glass case needs to be broken.
Zach Wilson certainly hasn’t been lights-out since upgraded starter Aaron Rodgers went down four plays into his Jets career in the season opener. And he was decidedly worse than that for most of Sunday’s sludge-fest game against the Giants.
Yet, the former No. 2 overall pick still has been at the helm for four wins in seven games and three in a row, placing the Jets legitimately in the playoff hunt in the AFC.
Complementing a stingy defense and running game led by Breece Hall, Wilson is doing just enough to hold down the fort, while Rodgers possibly — if still incredibly — points to what would be an unprecedented early return to the field just a few months after Achilles surgery.
The Giants received acceptable backup play from Tyrod Taylor with Daniel Jones sidelined by a neck injury before the competent veteran suffered an injury to his ribs Sunday against the Jets.
Jersey boy Tommy DeVito made for a nice local story when the third-stringer came on and ran for a go-ahead touchdown in the second half, but Brian Daboll’s lack of confidence in having DeVito throw the ball contributed to their unfathomable 13-10 overtime defeat (yes, Graham Gano absolutely needed to make that field goal at the end of regulation).
As the Jets did by signing veteran Trevor Siemian to their practice squad in late September, the Giants have to bring in someone Daboll can at least trust in an emergency, whether that’s former Bills backup Matt Barkley — who worked out for them earlier this month — or someone else.
Jones finally has been cleared for contact, giving him a strong chance — barring a setback — to return Sunday against the Raiders, who got back starter Jimmy Garoppolo from a back injury in Monday night’s loss to the Lions.
Brian Hoyer had started for Las Vegas last week against the Bears, who won the game with Division II rookie Tyson Bagent subbing for Justin Fields (thumb), though Bagent wasn’t ready for primetime this week against the Chargers.
The Browns have won two of three with P.J. Walker starting in place of Deshaun Watson (shoulder).
Another rookie, 2023 fifth-round pick Jaren Hall, will be pressed into service for the Vikings with Kirk Cousins out for the season due to a torn Achilles suffered late in Sunday’s win over the Packers.
The Cardinals are benching Kyler Murray fill-in Joshua Dobbs and plan to turn to rookie Clayton Tune.
Of course, Brock Purdy proved last season with the 49ers that sometimes an unheralded rookie can be a better option than the standard retread (Andy Dalton, etc.).
Remember, the Giants were forced to start the forgettable Mike Glennon and Jake Fromm for six games with Jones also out with a neck issue in 2021.
True, the salary cap can be difficult to navigate even without devoting resources to a decent backup QB, but having someone who can step in and minimize mistakes in a pinch has never been more important.
Today’s back page
Let’s make a deal
The NFL’s Halloween trade deadline is upon us, with the Giants already starting to sell by moving defensive lineman Leonard Williams to the Seahawks for draft picks.
With more than two months remaining in the regular season, it’s probably too early for every team to determine its status as buyers or sellers.
But deadline day always is a focal point for fans in MLB, the NBA and the NHL, and the in-season trade action in the NFL has started to rival those sports.
The deadline has seen some big names switching teams in recent years, including difference makers such as Christian McCaffery (2022), Von Miller (2021), Jalen Ramsay (2019), Amari Cooper (2018) and Garoppolo (2017).
Who might be on the move this year? Names such as Washington’s Chase Young and Montez Sweat have been circulating for days. So has the possibility the Titans might listen to offers for Derrick Henry. We’ll all know more by 4 p.m. ET Tuesday.
A few Knick knacks
The Knicks already are facing their second set of back-to-backs within the first five games of the season with a home-and-home against Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers beginning Tuesday night in Cleveland.
The Cavs will be looking to make an early-season statement after the Knicks manhandled them in the first round of the playoffs last season.
Post beat writer Stefan Bondy reported as much in a few productive days in Cleveland, which also included a one-on-one with Knicks castoff Obi Toppin.
I covered Saturday’s slog of a loss in New Orleans, which negated much of the good feelings stemming from the Knicks’ first win of the season one night earlier in Atlanta.
The seafood gumbo, fried oysters and jambalaya I ate in the French Quarter were on point, at least.
The Knicks committed 19 turnovers against the Pelicans, with eight alone from Randle, who still is looking to find his shot (13-for-47) three games into his return from offseason ankle surgery.
One encouraging highlight has been the play of RJ Barrett, who is averaging a team-best 22.7 points per game while hitting 47.1 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from 3-point range.
It will be interesting to see whether Tom Thibodeau even slightly alters or extends his nine-man playing rotation in the two games against the Cavs after the Knicks played so poorly in New Orleans.
Inserting Deuce McBride or Jericho Sims for a few minutes before they finally played in garbage time might have provided some life to a team that appeared fatigued.
The scoreboard: Sports equinox edition
Rangers 3, Diamondbacks 1: Texas took a pivotal Game 3 of the World Series with a three-run third inning punctuated by (what else?) a Corey Seager home run. But the win came at a cost: Max Scherzer exited early due to back spasms, and ALCS MVP Adolis Garcia was forced from the game because of “left side tightness.” Jon Gray propped up the Rangers bullpen on this night; can their pitching piece together two more wins?
Rangers 3, Jets 2 (OT): The first sweep of a five-game road trip in franchise history came the hard way — Chris Kreider tied it for the Rangers in the third period, and Mika Zibanejad won it in overtime.
Nets 133, Hornets 121: The Nets picked up their first victory of the season in a high-paced affair in Charlotte. Cam Thomas delivered his third straight 30-point outing with 33.
Red Wings 4, Islanders 3 (OT): The Islanders squandered a two-goal lead in the third period. “I don’t think it’s acceptable,” Noah Dobson said.
What we’re reading
🏀 Reset your “days since an unbearably tedious James Harden trade saga” counter to 0. Harden is heading to the Clippers after the 76ers reached an agreement overnight to acquire multiple players and draft picks in exchange for the disgruntled point guard.
⚾ Craig Counsell’s interest in the Mets job is “serious,” and there’s a clear path to him becoming baseball’s highest-paid manager.
⚾ Frank Howard, the towering Washington Senators slugger who later became Mets manager and a coach for the Mets and Yankees, has died. He was 87.
🏒 Adam Johnson’s terrifying death from an in-game skate-blade accident has sparked conversation around hockey about protective gear, specifically neck guards.