It may not have been pretty, but the New York Giants picked up their seventh win of the season on Sunday as they defeated the Houston Texans 24-16.
Despite playing against a team with just one win, the expectation was that this would be a hard-fought game that wouldn’t be decided until the final moments. Sure enough, that’s exactly how it played out.
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New York Giants defense stars in first half vs. the Texans
The game couldn’t have started any better for Big Blue. First, the defense forced a three and out, then the offense went on a 10-play 68-yard drive that culminated in a Daniel Jones nine-yard touchdown pass to Lawrence Cager to go up front 7-0.
New York’s defense was dominant for the entire first quarter as they forced three-and-outs on Houston’s next two possessions. The Giants’ defense was so impressive that the Texans had minus three yards of offense after the first fifteen minutes.
Offensively the New York Giants made it a priority to run the ball with Saquon Barkley against the league’s worst-ranked rushing defense as he had 11 carries in the first quarter. But surprisingly, the Texans held the superstar running back to just 25 yards.
Fortunately, the defense was able to shut down Houston’s rookie running back sensation Dameon Pierce as well. He did however manage to break free for one moment in the second quarter on a 44-yard run. His run led to a Ka’imi Fairbairn 38-yard field goal to cut their deficit to 7-3.
With Barkley being contained and Kenny Golladay having two costly drops, New York’s offense couldn’t muster any more points in the first half, and the game remained 7-3 at halftime.
Giants and Saquon Barkley continue second-half dominance
Through their first eight games of the season, the New York Giants have played their best football in the second half, and that pattern would continue.
It took just five plays for Big Blue to score their second touchdown of the game as Darius Slayton scored on a 54-yard touchdown reception. Slayton caught a short pass from Jones and eluded several defenders down the left sideline and on his way to the end zone to extend New York’s lead to 14-3.
The uncharacteristically play by the defense allowed the Texans to easily march down the field to score their lone touchdown on the afternoon as Davis Mills connected on a 12-yard strike to Nico Collins to make it 14-10.
The New York Giants would respond right back as Jones and Barkley engineered a 12-play 74-yard drive that ended with a Barkley two-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 21-10. It was becoming apparent that Barkley and the Giants offensive line were starting to wear down the Texans’ front seven. The holes were getting bigger, and Barkley was imposing his will on the Texans.
He finished the game with 35 carries for 152 yards which were the fourth most in his career. After giving up momentum on their last possession the Giants’ defense would rebound in a big way on the next drive.
With the Texans on the Giants’ 10-yard line, the Texans handed the ball to Pierce, but Leonard Williams and Kayvon Thibodeaux would cause him to fumble, and it was recovered by Jaylon Smith.
The defense would force another turnover on Houston’s next possession.
With the Texans facing a 2nd and 25 from the Giants’ 29-yard-line Davis Mills attempted a pass to Phillip Dorsett in the end zone. But Dane Belton starting in place of Xavier McKinney intercepted the pass for a touchback. It was the first career interception for Belton and New York’s second interception of the season.
The Texans would not score again until just 2:22 left in the game as Fairbairn connected on his second field goal of the day, this time from 34 yards out to make the score 21-13.
Despite having two timeouts and the two-minute warning, the Texans tried for an on-side kick that was recovered by Cager. Four plays later, Graham Cano connected on a 49-yard field goal to give New York a comfortable 24-13 lead with just 1:55 remaining.
Houston tried to mount a rally, but all they could do was get down to the New York 27-yard line and elected to have Fairbairn kick another field goal with seven seconds left in the game.
Houston would try another on-side kick but it was recovered by Adoree’ Jackson to wrap up the victory for New York.
Final thoughts
Not having Xavier McKinney on the field showed as the defense allowed the Texans to have 387 yards of offense. But the defense made plays when it mattered most forcing the two turnovers and sacking Davis Mills four times.
Leonard Williams had his best game of the season as he had a team-high nine tackles and half a sack. Dexter Lawrence keeps making his case that he deserves All-Pro and Pro Bowl recognition as he had five tackles, a sack, and batted down a pass.
Quarterback Daniel Jones had an efficient outing as he completed 13 out of 17 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns. If he can continue this play for the next eight games of the season, he’ll be rewarded with a new contract.
New York is now one win away from ending their streak of five consecutive seasons with double-digit losses. They hope to accomplish this next Sunday when they host the (3-6) Detroit Lions.