Giants Country

New York Giants Top Texans, 24-16

The Giants improve to 7-2 on the season, their best start since 2008.
Joe Najarian|
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

In this story:

New York Giants

East Rutherford, NJ - The New York Giants advanced to 7-2 as they defeated the Houston Texans in MetLife Stadium, 24-16.

New York scored on their first drive and then went wire-to-wire, not trailing at any point during a game, a first for them this season.

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones threw only 17 passes on the day but completed 13 for 197 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions while posting an impressive 153.3 passer rating. He also rushed for 24 yards on five carries.

Jones’s top target was Darius Slayton, who racked up 95 receiving yards and a touchdown on only three catches, averaging 31.7 yards per reception.

Looking to take advantage of Houston’s poor run defense, the Giants gave running back Saquon Barkley a heavy workload; he would set a career-high in carries with 35. Barkley answered the call with 152 yards and a touchdown, putting him at 779 rushing yards for the season.

After forcing the Texans to go three-and-out to start the game, the Giants’ offense marched 68 yards in 10 plays. Facing 2nd and 12 at the Houston 42, wide receiver Darius Slayton provided the biggest play of the drive with a 36-yard reception that moved the ball to the Houston 6-yard line. Three plays later, Jones threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to tight end Lawrence Cager, who celebrated with the Salsa Dance. New York now led 7-0.

Both teams punted on their next two drives. At the end of the first quarter, the Giants moved into Houston territory and faced 4th and 1. But a false start penalty during the conversion forced them to punt.

The Texans, who failed to pick up a first down in the first quarter, were finally able to generate some offense and move into the red zone. The big play was a 44-yard run by rookie running back Dameon Pierce. But the Giants' defense held firm and forced Houston to settle for Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 38-yard field goal to make it 7-3.

The Giants had a promising drive after Barkley ripped off a 27-yard run as they moved to the Houston 27. But a series of disastrous plays, including a 5-yard loss on a Wan’Dale Robinson run and an 8-yard sack on Jones, would push the Giants out of field goal range. The mistakes would continue with an abysmal 14-yard punt from Jamie Gillan, although the Texans could not capitalize and were forced to punt themselves.

Ultimately, neither team generated much offense in the first half despite the Giants dominating the stat sheet. They outgained the Texans in total yards 182-86 and held them to just 18 passing yards, but only had a 7-3 halftime lead to show for it.

Fortunately, the Giants got the spark they needed during their opening drive of the second half. Facing 3rd and nine at their own 46, Jones threw a short pass to Slayton while dragged to the ground. Slayton broke a tackle and scurried to the endzone for a 54-yard touchdown reception. New York had extended their lead to 14-3.

But the Texans responded right away with a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Chris Moore hauled in a 23-yard pass from Davis Mills, who then followed up with a 17-yard pass to Jordan Akins; nose tackle Dexter Lawrence II was flagged for roughing the passer on the latter play, putting the ball inside the 10. Mills finished the drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins to make it a one-score game again.

The Giants offense went back to work with a 12-play, 74-yard touchdown drive. Jones completed a pair of passes on third and long situations; the first was an 11-yarder to Robinson on 3rd and 7, and the second was a 26-yarder to Isaiah Hodgins on 3rd and 7. Barkley finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it 21-10 Giants.

Houston threatened to score on their next drive, as a 46-yard catch-and-run by Akins moved the ball to the Giants 9-yard line. But Giants defensive end Leonard Williams forced a fumble from Pierce, and linebacker Jaylon Smith recovered the ball for New York. But the offense was unable to capitalize and was forced to punt.

The Texans picked up right where they left off, as Mills completed a 25-yard pass to Brandin Cooks to move inside the red zone. Mills then seemingly threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Cooks, but an offensive holding penalty took it off the board. The Giants capitalized immediately; Mills threw to the endzone again, but this time he was intercepted by rookie safety Dane Belton, as the Giants' defense came up with another clutch turnover.

The Giants were able to chew off just over five minutes off the clock before punting the ball away. The Texans could make it 21-13 on Fairbairn’s 34-yard field goal, but only 2:22 left in regulation before the Giants recovered the ensuing onside kick.

Giants kicker Graham Gano kicked a 49-yard field goal to make it 24-13 by the two-minute warning. Houston then drove downfield, and Fairbairn’s 46-yard field goal made it 24-16, but by then, there were only seven seconds left on the clock, and the Giants recovered another onside kick to end the game.

Join the Giants Country Community

Published
Joe Najarian
JOE NAJARIAN

Joe Najarian, a Rutgers University graduate, covered Rutgers Football and Rutgers Baseball during an eight-month stint with Jersey Sporting News (JSN).

Share on XFollow JoeNajarian
Home/Game Day