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Giants (3-2-1) Texans (2-4)
The
Texans were playing at Wembley Stadium in London last Sunday against the Jacksonville
Jaguars. The Texans were ahead near the end of the fourth quarter in the red zone
driving for another score, but an interception gave the Jaguars another chance.
A long field goal tied the game up, but the Texans went on and kicked their own
to end the game with a 34-31 win.
The Giants got off to a fast start for a
change in their game with the New Orleans Saints. They held a 10-0 lead deep into
the second quarter, but the Saints tied up the game, and kept on scoring. They
had a 24 point lead in the fourth quarter, when the Giants swapped out quarterbacks,
and scored 17 straight points. J.J. McCarthy got them down to the red zone on
their final possession, but fell short of scoring, and the Giants ended up with
a 34-27 loss. Houston Texans
During
the 2011 to 2019 seasons, the Texans had finished at the top of the AFC South
Division six out of nine times. They won in four of their Wild Card games, but
couldn't get past the Divisional playoff rounds . The 2020 and 2021 seasons were
particularly tough ones for Houston, as they won just four games in each of those
years. In 2022, the last time the Giants played the Texans, Lovie Smith was the
new head coach, but he wasn't the magic charm.
A 3-13-1 record had DeMeco
Ryans taking over in 2023, and it turns out he was. The Texans finished first
in the NFC South with 10-7 records in the next two seasons. Last year their 12-5
record had them finishing second, and in all three years under Ryans direction,
they were in the playoffs. The Texans got past their three wild card games, only
to lose on road trips in the Divisional Playoffs to the Ravens, Chiefs, and Patriots.
This year the Texans have started off with four straight losses, and have won
their last two games. Houston
Texans Offense
Things didn't go well for the Texans when quarterback C.J. Stroud threw four interceptions
in their Divisional Playoff game to end their season with a 28-16 loss to the
New England Patriots. Stroud's best year in the touchdown to interception ratio,
was his first as a rookie where he threw 23 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Now
in his fourth year, even though the Texans lost in their first four games, Stroud
has thrown for 9 touchdowns with just 1 interception, and his completions are
at his career highest level, 65.3 percent. Stroud's one interception came at the
worst time. It was last week when his toss to the endzone was intercepted. It
allowed the Jaguars to come back and tie up the game with a 60-yard field goal.
Stroud
made good use of the two minutes that were left, and their last second field goal
won the game.. .
The Texans got their running game going last week against
a real tough Jacksonville Jaguars rushing defense. Before that game the Texans
ranked 31st in total rushing yards and 30th in yards per attempt. It was the first
time since Week 1 that they were able to come up with over 100 rushing yards in
a game, and they averaged more than 4 yards per attempt. The field conditions
may have played a part, but the Giants have to take notice.
Starting running
back David Montgomery was out last week, and will miss this game as well. Woody
Marks will again take the lead, and they both have two of the teams 6 rushing
touchdowns. Jawhar Jordan got his first shot last week, and played well with his
6 carries and 1 touchdown, but now Jordan's ended up back on the practice squad
injured list. Playing behind Marks will be Dare Ogunbowale, who's appeared in
just three games with no carries. Marks has good hands, and Stroud knows when
to hit him and Montgomery, who has one touchdown catch. Wide receiver Nico Collins
is tied with tight end Foster Moreau, both with 3 touchdowns. Jaylin Noel caught
one last week, giving him two on the season, and that accounts for the Texans
total of 9. Tight end Dalton Schultz and wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson have
been heavily targeted by Stroud, as compared to the others. Houston
Texans Defense
The
defense will be facing J.J. McCarthy, a more mobile quarterback than Jameis Winston,
who they might not have been expecting to see up until this week. They were in
7th place last year with 47 total sacks, and are a little ahead of that pace now
with 18. A lot of that has to do with the Texans selecting defensive end Will
Anderson Jr. with the No. 3 overall pick in the first round of the 2023 draft.
His sack number was 7 as a rookie, and they have increased in every season he's
played, 11, 12.
Anderson's already up to 7.5 in six games this year, justifying
being the highest paid non quarterback in NFL history. The Texans signed Danielle
Hunter in 2024, and he's averaged 11.5 sacks per year over the last ten years
he's played, and higher in the his last two with the Texans. The timing is not
good for the Giants who have been dealing with some injuries on the offensive
line.
Tackles Jermaine Eluemunor and Marcus Mbow are listed as questionable.
McCarthy did well passing the ball to his receivers last week, and he may have
to be the whole show this game if the Giants can't spark up their rushing attack.
The Texans are good defenders in that area, third in the league allowing just
83 yards a game. If any Giants running back starts making a go of it, the defenders
will be anxious to punch the ball from his hands, knowing that will likely take
him off the field for the rest of the game the way John Harbaugh seems to run
things. . Giants
Offense
The starting quarterback for this
weeks game with the Texans is JJ McCarthy. Jameis Winston will have the backup
role, where he was originally slated to be behind Jaxson Dart who is on IR. Winston
as a starter had up and down performances got the Giants 2 wins and a tie, and
last week a loss though he did not finish the game. Winston was pulled in the
second half after completing only 5 of his next 10 passes, and throwing 2 interceptions.
John Harbaugh had McCarthy take over in the fourth quarter. Though he threw an
interception on the fifth play of his first series, Harbaugh kept him in for the
next one.
McCarthy got things going, leading the offense to 2 touchdowns and
a field goal, and to the Saints 14 yard line, with seconds left. A touchdown would
tie the game, but McCarthy throw to Isaiah Likely was incomplete. The Giants worked
out a full playbook for Dart during the offseason, and McCarthy fits that style
of play more than Winston. McCarthy will get his chance to show us what he has
is real, or if the Saints were just slow marching in the final quarter figuring
they had the game won.
The lead running back for the Giants is, well it's
not Najee Harris, who was released by the Giants this week, after complaining
about the running back rotation. So it will be either Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy
Jr. or Devin Singletary, though none of the running backs led the team very well
in last's weeks game. Harris was in the mix along with Tracy and Singletary. Skattebo
gets a pass, as they never put the ball in his hands for a single carry. The running
backs totaled just 34 yards on 14 carries, and Tracy had one rushing touchdown.
They did help out in their limited roles in the passing game. Tracy caught 2 of
3 for 27 yards, and one was for a touchdown. Singletary had 19 yards on the one
pass that was thrown to him.
The top receiver was Malik Nabers, considering
there were 22 incompletions thrown by the two quarterbacks, he caught 12 of 15
for 165 yards. Isaiah Likely was next with 6 catches on 11 passes for 99 yards
and 1 touchdown. Including Charlie Jones and Malachi Fields the total receiving
yards for the team was 395 yards. You know the Texans will be focused on Nabers
and Likely, who have accounted for 80 of the Giants 127 receptions. Malachi Fields
and Darnell Mooney are next in line with their receptions, and for more yards
on average per catch than the others, but while catching less than half of what's
been thrown to them. They might do better with McCarthy throwing the ball. It
should be noted that Skattebo, as well as the other running backs, has good hands
as well. Skattebo leads them on the season, catching 10 of 12 for 79 yards. Giants
Defense
Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson
was on his guys for not running to the ball and poor tackling. The rushing defense
is giving up 135.5 yards a game, fourth from the bottom in the NFL. In the last
two losing games, it was 202 yards to the Commanders, and 175 yards to the Saints.
It doesn't help that middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds was hurt near the end
of the game last week, and is out for the season with a torn chest muscle. The
Texans right now are coming into this game with a weakened rushing attack that
was not very good from the start. They rank 25th in rushing yards, averaging just
under 85 yards a game.
They did better last week with 114 yards, even without
their lead rusher playing. Jawhar Jordan came up with 43 of those yards on just
6 carries, but he's also not available. That makes things easier for the Giants
run defense, but having the Texans throw more might not be a good thing.
The
Texans rank fourth in the NFL in passing yards, averaging 270.2 a game. Quarterback
CJ Stroud is playing at his best, and has eyes all over the field. Last week he
threw to 10 different receivers, and their average was 13 yards a catch. The highest
was to wide receivers Jaylin Noel and Nico Collins, helped by Noel having a 50-yard
catch, and Collins 42-yards.
This could be a pass heavy game, Abdul Carter
has only 2 sacks on the season, but he knows how to bring pressure. Rookie Arvell
Reese is second to Edmunds in total tackles, and could be moved into his spot.
The secondary has a tough job this week with what they have to face. Cornerback
Greg Newsome is out, and Paulson Adebo is questionable. Safety Tyler Nubin is
questionable, and Jevon Holland is out. Cornerbacks Deonte Banks and Colton Hood
will be very busy. The players better pay attention to what Wilson is telling
them, and not give away any big plays with poor tackling. Overall
Last year, the Texans were sitting with this same 2-4 record, and went on to finish
12-5. Now coming off two straight wins, they'd sure like to beat the Giants and
get back on that same road. The Texans and Giants are next on a bye week, so both
teams can give it their all in this game. The Giants are still trying to figure
out who their continuing starting quarterback, and running back might be. This
game maybe looks to be a mismatch in the Texans favor, but as we've seen the Giants
sure can find ways to surprise you.
NFC East Games
Sunday
at 1:00pm Giants (3-2-1) at Texans (2-4)
Sunday at 8:15pm Cowboys (2-4) at
Eagles (2-4)
The Cowboys are the NFC East team favored to win in these games.
Check out.
Giants
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Next Games
Nov
8 Giants at Philadelphia
Nov 12 Commanders at Giants
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