The New York Giants returned from their bye to take on the Houston Texans at MetLife Stadium on Sunday and the game was a tale of two halves.
Over the first two quarters, scoring came at a premium as the Giants allowed self-inflicted wounds to stunt several drives. That includes untimely penalties, drops and missed assignments. But their defense held strong and limited the Texans to just three.
The second half featured a complete 180 by both teams. The offenses kicked into high gear and the game became somewhat of a shootout. The first three possessions resulted in a touchdown and a fourth was headed in that direction before Leonard Williams forced a fumble to stop a Houston drive.
But the Texans quickly bounced back only to have the Giants defense come up huge again, securing an interception in the end zone.
Things slowed down from there and the Giants were eventually able to close it out after some odd late-game maneuvering by the Texans.
With the win, the Giants improve to 7-2 on the season.
Final score: Giants 24, Texans 16
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final | |
| Giants | 7 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 24 |
| Texans | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 16 |
Keys to the game
- Giants converted 7-14 third downs and held Houston to 3-10.
- Giants won the turnover battle, 2-0.
- New York won time of possession, 33:20 to 26:40.
- The Texans were penalized seven times for 40 yards.
- Giants recorded 12 QB hits and 4.0 sacks.
It was over when...
Kicker Graham Gano connected on a 49-yard field with winds blowing at 15 MPH and just under 2:00 remaining in the game. It put the Giants up 11 and that was far more than the Texans could overcome with no timeouts remaining.
Houston would kick a field goal with just seconds remaining, but the Giants recovered the onside kick.
Players of the game
- NT Dexter Lawrence (5 tackles, 1 TFL, 5 QB hits, 1 PD, 1 sack)
- WR Darius Slayton (3 rec. for 95 yards, 1 TD)
- RB Saquon Barkley (160 total yards, 1 TD)
- QB Daniel Jones (221 total yards, 2 TD)
Injuries
Center Jon Feliciano, safety Julian Love and cornerback Darnay Holmes all got banged up during the game but did not miss any snaps.
Running back Saquon Barkley also seemed to get dinged during an onside kick late in the fourth quarter but he remained in the game.
What's next?
Head coach Brian Daboll will hold a Zoom call with the team’s beat writers on Monday afternoon before a few players are also made available.
Big Blue will return to practice on Wednesday ahead of a Week 11 game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, November 20 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Kickoff is 1:00 pm ET.
