J.J. McCarthy, Cam Skattebo connect for Giants' 27-21 OT win against Texans

After several weeks of uncertainty in the Giants' QB and RB rooms, J.J. McCarthy and Cam Skattebo powered New York to a 27-21 overtime win against the Houston Texans in Week 7.

The Giants improve to 4-2-1 with the win.

Though it took a few plays for the Giants' defense to warm up, the addition of Paulson Adebo and Tyler Nubin seemed to revitalize the secondary after a few very shorthanded weeks. Thanks to three solo tackles from Micah McFadden , New York held the Texans to a field goal in their opening drive. Ka'imi Fairbairn drove a 58-yard kick through the posts for the lead.

The Giants responded quickly, easily grabbing a touchdown behind a fiery start from McCarthy. After opening his first drive as a starter with two tosses to Skattebo, Jamies Winston temporarily replaced McCarthy on the third offensive play of the game for a 3rd-and-short tush push before relinquishing the QB spot to McCarthy once again. He then crept up to 4th and 2 before launching a 42-yard pass toward Malik Nabers , who narrowly avoided Kamari Lassiter for the gain. Tyrone Tracy ran the ball into the end zone from the 2-yard line, and Dominic Zvada delivered the extra point for a 7-3 Giants edge.

Two quick incompletions from C.J. Stroud lead to a Houston punt, giving the Giants possession once again. Despite another 40-plus yard toss from McCarthy — this time a 47-yarder to rookie wideout Malachi Fields down the sideline — two plays with negative yardage, a five-yard penalty, and an incomplete throw to Nabers forced the Giants into a 56-yard field goal attempt, which Zvada missed.

McCarthy finished the first quarter 5-for-6 passing for 96 yards, averaging 16 yards per throw.

The second frame began with a quick 3-and-out for each team. On their second drive, the Texans seemed to have figured out a way around the New York defense, but a false start by Ed Ingram on 4th-and-1 knocked them back five yards to New York's 39. Fairbairn's 57-yard field goal attempt was successful, closing the score gap to 7-6.

McCarthy continued to shine as New York got the ball back, evading pressure by gliding through the pocket to buy time and keeping his eyes downfield for open receivers for an 11-yard pass to Nabers and a 29-yarder to Thomas Fidone , who landed just one yard shy of the end zone for his first NFL catch. Winston took the field once again for a sneak, and Zvada nailed the extra point kick for New York's second seven-point score.

Earlier in the drive, Tracy strung together back-to-back runs worth 5 and 7 yards, respectively, before walking off the field slowly, seemingly nursing his leg.

After holding the Texans to just 82 yards up to the two-minute warning, New York's defense started to lose its footing as the Texans marched 90 yards down the field in just seven plays to even the score. Houston first broke through with a 43-yard connection from Stroud to Tank Dell , who made his first catch in nearly two full seasons after rehabbing a gnarly knee injury he sustained Dec. 21, 2024. A 17-yard catch by Dalton Schultz put Houston on the 6, and a pinpoint TD pass to Marvin Harrison Jr. that flew past McFadden landed them in the end zone. A successful two-point conversion knotted the score at 14.

With just 30 seconds left in the game, the Giants tried to regain their lead, but another missed field goal by Zvada — his fifth failed attempt in his last nine — ended the half.

The third quarter was a slog for both teams. New York got the ball back to start the frame, but when McCarthy followed a six-yard run from Skattebo, a 20-yard pass to Fields, and a two-yard run from Devin Singletary with an interception and a five-yard sack at Houston's 32, the Giants elected to punt instead of going for the 55-yard field goal attempt given Zvada's kicking slump.

Both teams then traded 3-and-outs. The momentum almost picked up on the Texans' second drive of the quarter, when McFadden recovered a Woody Marks fumble forced by Giants DL Bobby Jamison-Travis and ran 44 yards for the touchdown, but a replay revealed that Marks was not down by contact and the play was reversed. On his way down, Marks landed awkwardly on his knee and left the field as the referees determined the outcome of the play. Stroud then threw two more incompletions to end the drive, once again leaving the Giants 30 seconds of the quarter to work with.

This time, New York took full advantage. A fake tush push allowed Skattebo to skirt a distracted Texans defense and rush 19 yards, the Giants' longest run of the day up to that point. A quick 4-yard toss to Darnell Mooney landed New York just outside Houston territory to end the frame.

The Giants slowly chipped away yardage as the fourth quarter got underway, taking eight plays to move up to the Houston 30 before McCarthy dug the team out of a 3rd & 9 with a laser 14-yarder to Fields. He then handed the ball off to Skattebo, who dodged a flurry of Houston attacks and ran 16 yards to put the Giants up once again. Zvada's third successful extra point set the score at 21-14 with 8:55 to play.

New York shut down Houston's next drive in Houston territory, but the Texans retaliated, notching their third sack of the day on an all-out blitz and forcing a punt from the Giants' 14. Starting inside the 50-yard line, the Texans strung together seven-straight gains before a 3-yard TD pass to Xavier Hutchinson and a good extra point attempt evened the score with less than a minute to go. Though they regained possession, the Giants were unable to move down the field quickly enough, sending the game to overtime for their second extra-time appearance of the season.

The Texans opened overtime with the ball. Giants OL Kayvon Thibodeauz nearly ended Houston's run early with the first interception of the game but dropped the catch, resulting in another incomplete for Stroud. A second on the next toss meant Houston was forced to punt.

After their lucky tie with the Washington Commanders in Week 5, the Giants were taking no chances this time around. After a nine-yard pass to Nabers to start the drive — bringing the wideout to 111 yards on the day for his fourth-straight 11-yard effort — Skattebo darted up the middle of the field nearly unchallenged for a 42-yard gain before running out of gas. A 30-yard touchdown run from Devin Singletary sealed the deal.

Skattebo's team-leading 17 carries and 124 yards surely solidified his role as the team's starting running back once again, a hopeful start to his redemption arc after having his time severely cut in Week 6.

The 23-year-old quickly settled into his new role, completing 20 of his 28 passes for a total of 252 yards (99.1 percent pass rating). With his two long tosses in the first, he becomes the first Giants QB since Eli Manning in 2011 to complete two 40-plus-yard passes in his first game as the starter.

After a bye next weekend, the Giants will head to Philadelphia to take on the NFC East-rival Eagles Nov. 8. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.