Grading the Giants' Week 7 overtime win over the Houston Texans

Offense

The Giants' offense hasn't been this balanced since Week 1 when quarterback Jaxson Dart was healthy. They were explosive, ran the ball well (a season-high 188 rushing yards) and J.J. McCarthy was efficient distributing the ball in his first start. Malachi Fields’ career-high day (four catches, 83 yards) was just as critical as Malik Nabers’ seven catches for 111 yards. Cam Skattebo climbed out of the doghouse for his first 100-yard rushing game (124 yards). How about second-year TE Thomas Fidone getting his first career catch for 29 yards? Things stalled in the second half but an eight-minute, 18-second drive was well designed. Most importantly? Zero turnovers.

Grade: B-plus

Defense

The Giants held the Texans to 237 yards and just 3-for-12 on third downs. They didn’t force a takeaway and had just one sack but their pressure, led by Abdul Carter, flustered C.J. Stroud all game. The secondary, minus injured started Jevon Holland and Greg Newsome, held Pro Bowl receiver Nico Collins to just two catches for six yards, and cornerback Deonte Banks deserves a ton of credit there. Linebacker Micah McFadden stepped up in his first start this season with a team-high 10 tackles, including two for loss. Yes, they gave up the game-tying scoring drive in regulation but rebounded by forcing a three-and-out in overtime to set up the Giants' game-winning drive.

Grade: B

Special Teams

Dominic Zvada missed two more field goals (44 and 56 yards) and both were wide right. He’s 4-of-9 on field goals after making his first nine attempts. Had he made one, the Giants could’ve won in regulation. Jordan Stout had a 66-yard punt to show off his big leg. Kick returner Charlie Jones played a clean game without fumbling like he did last week. But Zvada’s misses are starting to get worrisome, and the rookie needs to get his confidence back.

Grade: D

Coaching

John Harbaugh deserves praise using his timeouts on Houston’s last drive of the first half. It allowed the Giants enough time to drive into field goal range before halftime, even though Zvada missed. He also used his challenge in the first quarter to overturn a third-down completion, forcing the Texans to punt on their opening drive. But he pushed the right buttons to motivate his running backs. His call to start McCarthy before the bye week was the right one as the Giants got their first road win of the season.

Grade: A

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.