Jim Harbaugh has helped his brother’s team win more games this season than his own.
John Harbaugh is 5-3-1 in his first season with the New York Giants, including 2-1 with J.J. McCarthy as his starting quarterback. Despite a disappointing 24-21 loss at home to Washington on Thursday night, the Giants lead the NFC East.
Meanwhile, Jim Harbaugh is 0-8 in his third season with the Los Angeles Chargers and one loss away from his first losing season in seven years as a head coach in the NFL.
McCarthy and Jim Harbaugh teamed up to win a national championship at Michigan in 2023, going 15-0. So when the Giants were shopping for a quarterback after Jaxson Dart sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 2, they targeted McCarthy, who was No. 3 on Minnesota’s depth chart.
“He always had good things to say about J.J,” John said about Jim. “I mean, I kind of watched it. I was following Michigan when Jim was coaching there. I don’t follow them as much anymore, but when Jim was there, that was a team I watched closely, so I’ve watched J.J. play a lot.”
While the Giants are aiming to go worst to first in their division, the Chargers have been a disaster. They’re off to their worst start since opening 0-11 in 2000 when Jim Harbaugh was one of their quarterbacks.
What’s gone wrong for Los Angeles? What’s gone right for New York?
Chargers
They went 11-6 in each of Jim Harbaugh’s first two seasons but lost in the wild-card round twice. After the offense was shut down in a 16-3 loss at New England last January, offensive coordinator Greg Roman was fired.
The Chargers hired former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel to replace him and Justin Herbert has unraveled. Herbert, a two-time Pro Bowl QB who has twice finished in the top 10 in voting for the AP NFL MVP award, is having the worst season of his career.
He has six TD passes, 11 interceptions and his 70.4 passer rating is second-worst among starting QBs.
The Chargers were 20th in points last year and 12th in yards. They’re last in scoring at 15.1 points per game and rank 26th in yards at 291.6 this season.
It’s easy to point the blame at the quirky, eccentric McDaniel, who has been labeled an offensive genius and innovator since the Dolphins ranked first in yards and second in scoring in his second season in 2023. They didn’t finish higher than 18th in either category with him in 2024-25.
Herbert didn’t forget how to play football. He has elite talent and his head coach has praised him effusively since he left Michigan for Los Angeles. Likewise, McDaniel didn’t suddenly turn into a terrible coach.
But sometimes a scheme doesn’t fit a quarterback or doesn’t maximize his strengths.
Herbert has an exceptional arm, excels at attacking defenses downfield and has a knack for making plays out of structure. McDaniel’s offensive philosophy has relied on timing, rhythm, motion and quick, precision passes.
Herbert can do it all but he doesn’t have good enough protection from the offensive line and McDaniel had much better receivers — Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle — in Miami in 2023.
The relationship between the QB and OC hasn’t been a problem. Despite their troubles on the field, Herbert has been a big supporter of McDaniel.
“He is incredibly tough. He’s the toughest coach I know and obviously wants to win,” Herbert said after a loss to the Texans. “He’s such a competitor and gives his best every week. He shows up, he’s there all day and night, and wants to give his absolute best for our offense. I feel horrible we haven’t been able to get it done for him yet, but it doesn’t mean we are going to stop trying. We are going to keep working, keep getting better, and doing everything we can for him.”
Giants
They fired Brian Daboll in the middle of a 4-13 season and turned to John Harbaugh after he was let go following 18 seasons in Baltimore that included a Super Bowl victory over his brother when Jim coached the San Francisco 49ers.
Harbaugh quickly changed the losing culture in New York. And, the Giants have benefited from playing in a weak division.
They lost their young franchise quarterback when Dart went down in the first quarter of the second game. They lost their best pass rusher when Brian Burns got hurt in Week 3. But Harbaugh has kept them steady and on track.
It helps that the other teams in the East are a mess.
The Dallas Cowboys (4-5) have been too inconsistent to contend. The injury-riddled Philadelphia Eagles (2-7) have lost seven in a row.
The Commanders (3-5-1) saved their season by rallying to beat the Giants after Jayden Daniels tried to give the game away. He threw two picks in the fourth quarter on consecutive drives but New York couldn’t run out the clock. Given a third chance, Daniels delivered a 32-yard TD pass to Stefon Diggs with under a minute left and McCarthy threw an interception to seal the loss.
Still, the Giants are in their best position to make the playoffs for the first time since 2022. The schedule isn’t easy, however. They host Jacksonville (6-2) next week and five of their remaining opponents currently have a winning record.
As for the Harbaugh brothers, they’re more similar than their records.
“I can say this, both are made of faith, family, and football, and nothing else,” McCarthy said. “They absolutely love coming in every day and just getting better personally, so they can affect their collective groups. I’m just so blessed to be a part of a family that is led by a Harbaugh.”
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