Positivity and faith are things Jameis Winston thrives on, whether he’s being benched, suiting up for his team, having a bad game, or leading his team to a comeback win. That’s how his 2026 season with the New York Giants has felt since he took over as the team’s starting quarterback after second-year signal-caller Jaxson Dart went down with a season-ending injury.

And after trailing before eventually leading the Giants to tie the game against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, sports columnist Jason Whitlock praised Winston and compared him with former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow.

“We discussed today that Jameis Winston is Tim Tebow 2.0. He’s the best story in sports,” Whitlock wrote on X. “Jameis is a blueprint for all athletes, particularly black athletes. I hope he continues to showcase victory over victimhood. “Tha culture” will soon demand he promote victimhood.”

Jason’s comments came as head coach John Harbaugh raved about his quarterback and his faith.

“It’s the best thing to be around,” said Harbaugh when asked about Winston’s positivity and optimism. “It’s genuine. He’s a very strong faith person. He’s a very strong Christian. He’s a very good guy. He works extremely hard. He’s an unbelievable competitor. He’s tough as he can be. He’s a fighter, and he just doesn’t let adversity get him down.

“He understands it. It’s like Michael Jordan, or Abraham Lincoln, or all the different stories you’ve heard. It’s not how many times you get knocked down; it’s how many times you get up. You need to be +1 in the get-up category, and that’s what he does every single day of his life.”

Ever since taking over as the starting quarterback, Winston has yet to lose a game for the Giants this season except for the Week 2 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, where he filled in for Dart.

Winston struggled against the Rams, completing 11 of 27 passes for 111 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception, as the Giants lost 28-6, marking their only loss of the season so far. After Dart was ruled out for the remainder of the season, Winston took over as the starting quarterback and has since led New York to a pair of wins and a tie in its Week 5 matchup.

Through four games, the quarterback has completed 57.6% of his passes for 805 yards, six touchdowns, and just three interceptions. After the Giants’ 36-24 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4, where he completed 18-of-29 for 250 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions, Jameis Winston talked about faith and the support he got from the fans.

“Praise God,” he said after the game. “Unwavering faith, people coming through when they needed to come through. It was only by the grace of God, man. There were so many supernatural things that happened today, and that was one of them. I believe in miracles, but that was preparation, that was hard work, and that was just a divine interaction for Tae Banks just getting off his injury, never giving up and coming back to get a pick-six and seal the day. Man, wow. Wow. Thank you, Lord.”

Subsequently, Winston’s faith and optimism prompted Whitlock’s co-host to double down on his comparison to Tim Tebow, particularly Tebow’s 2011 season.

“Jameis Winston, a man who is faithful in losses, faithful when he gets cut, faithful when he throws an interception, faithful when he does a myriad of things that are negative or negative things happen to him. It reminds me of, dare I say, 2011 Tim Tebow. This season is reminding me of that. He has the ability to put things behind him, very much like Tim Tebow.

“Like, there was one game Tebow had that year where he was three-of-16 in the first three quarters, and then 18-of-24 in the fourth quarter. It’s like, I see a lot of similarities so far. It’s going to be interesting to see if he can keep it going like Tim Tebow did where just week after week or not even week after week, close game after close game, he cashed it in. But so far so good with Jameis Winston; I’m getting 2011 Tebow vibes early.”

Winston’s comparison with Tebow came after the quarterback’s performance against the Commanders on Sunday. Winston went 33-of-54 for 326 yards and three touchdowns, while orchestrating a fourth-quarter comeback. The Giants trailed 27-13 with about 11 minutes remaining before Winston scored a pair of touchdown drives to level the score.

As Washington extended its lead to 27-13, Winston responded by completing six of eight passes on a 75-yard drive, finishing it with a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely on fourth-and-8. He delivered again when the Giants needed another score. After the defense forced a punt, Winston led a 10-play drive and connected with Malik Nabers for a 17-yard touchdown with 1:43 left, tying the game.

While the Giants didn’t win the game, the comparison between Winston and Tebow was evident, as the former Denver Broncos quarterback established himself through multiple fourth-quarter comebacks during the 2011 season.

In 2011, Tebow took over as Denver’s starting quarterback during the season and helped the Broncos produce a series of close victories. By November 2011, Tebow recorded three fourth-quarter comebacks, two of which led to overtime victories.

At the same time, Denver scored 11 times in the fourth quarter or overtime, compared with 10 scoring drives across the first three quarters combined during Tebow’s run as starter at that point. Winston’s comparison to him becomes more compelling when Whitlock’s co-host recalled Tebow’s performance against the Chicago Bears in December 2011.

The Broncos were trailing 10-0 before Tebow completed 18 of 24 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter and overtime. Denver tied the game and eventually won 13-10 in overtime.

That said, while Winston certainly failed to win the game against the Commanders, it’s safe to say that the quarterback has managed to fill the void left by Dart for now.