J.J. McCarthy Wins 1st Giants Start, Box Score Stats & Highlights for Skattebo, Stroud, Top Players

Let the J.J. McCarthy era begin for the New York Giants.

McCarthy led the Giants to a 27-21 overtime victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday at Reliant Stadium in his first start with the team. New York is now 4-2-1, while the disappointing Texans fell to 2-5 on the campaign.

While McCarthy was largely excellent, it was the rushing attack that won it in overtime. Cam Skattebo broke through for a 42-yard run, while Devin Singletary finished it with a 30-yard touchdown.

It was a stunning result and a credit to Skattebo in particular, who bounced back from zero carries in his last game to thrive in this one.

All eyes were on McCarthy coming into his first start with the Giants since they acquired him via trade from a Minnesota Vikings team that gave up on him early after using the No. 10 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft on the Michigan product.

McCarthy earned the start by playing well in place of Jameis Winston in the fourth quarter of New York's loss to the New Orleans Saints and looked comfortable early against Houston by hitting Malik Nabers and Malachi Fields for long gains and directing a touchdown drive that Tyrone Tracy Jr. capped off in the end zone.

That was just the start of his first half, as he found Thomas Fidone II for another deep completion that set up a Winston score on a tush push.

McCarthy's Giants would have finished the first half with even more points if Dominic Zvada didn't miss two field goals, and the Texans entered intermission with all the momentum as a result after Stroud tied the game by hitting Tank Dell for 43 yards, Marvin Harrison Jr. for a touchdown and Cade Stover for the two-point conversion.

Dell's catch in particular fired up the crowd, as Sunday was his first game since he suffered a significant knee injury in December 2024.

Yet for as thrilling as the first half was for the two offenses, the exact opposite played out as the sides traded four straight punts in the third quarter.

It was a notable development for Houston's defense, which was expected to be among the league's best coming into the season but has largely underperformed to this point. The windows that were initially there for McCarthy started to disappear, although a fake tush push led to a long run for Skattebo to give the Giants some momentum.

It was just the start for the physical running back, who exploded through multiple Houston defenders for a 16-yard touchdown run to give the Giants the lead with fewer than nine minutes remaining.

Skattebo's efforts gave New York's defense the chance to win it, but Stroud responded with a touchdown pass to Xavier Hutchinson to force overtime.

However, New York took advantage of the extra period and now heads into the bye week with plenty of momentum. As for the Texans, they are also going into their bye week but will look to turn things around after a disappointing result.