Giants trying not to take Texans and Lions lightly

Brian Daboll has stuck doggedly to his every-week-is-the-same mantra all season, much to the frustration of bored sportswriters but seemingly to the benefit of his Giants, who resume play on Sunday after having last weekend off.

The next two weeks will provide a test of the coach’s approach, as he very much does not want his players doing what many fans presumably are: Cross-referencing the schedule with the standings.

On Sunday, the Giants will host the Texans, who at 1-6-1 have the worst record in the AFC. Next Sunday, they will host the Lions, who at 2-6 have the worst record in the NFC.

Uh, oh.

“As a person who knows the game and respects the game, you don’t take any opponent lightly,” cornerback Adoree’ Jackson told Newsday. “For me, knowing those guys and who they are, knowing the fight they have, you see they’re out there fighting and battling. That actually is a talented group.”

Jackson praised the Texans’ offensive players, including second-year quarterback Davis Mills, whose career record as an NFL starter is 3-15-1.

“He’s a Pac-12 guy from Stanford, so I would say he’s a good quarterback,” said Jackson, who went to USC. “You don’t go to Stanford without being a good quarterback. He’s made a lot of great plays in this league.”

The Texans have been sporadically competitive, with three losses by seven  or fewer points. Their only victory was 13-6 at Jacksonville on Oct. 9.

Mills has 10 touchdown passes and eight interceptions and Brandin Cooks has 32 receptions for 354 yards and a touchdown.

By far their most consistent offensive producer has been rookie back Dameon Pierce, who has rushed 148 times for 678 yards and three touchdowns.

The Giants rank second-to-last in average yards allowed per rush at 5.5 and the Texans are third-from-last at 5.4, so both featured backs — Pierce and the Giants’ Saquon Barkley — might be set up for big days. Houston has allowed the two highest single-game rushing yardage totals in the NFL this season — 314 against the Titans and 281 against the Bears.

“You look on tape, I think they’re a good team,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “They do a lot of good things on the defensive side of the ball. They’ve got a lot of good players, good, sound scheme. Everyone in this league is good. I think it’s something I’ve learned through these first few years [in the NFL].”

Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said, “This is about being consistent in your preparation and not treating any team like it’s less than you or as an underdog. It’s just going out there and competing for your brothers.”

The Giants have played one home game since Oct. 2 but now begin a stretch of four home games out of the next five.

For most of the past decade, home games in late November and December have been sparsely attended, other than by fans of the visiting teams. But the Giants now have a chance to keep their own fans energized and engaged.

The late co-owner Wellington Mara used to set meaningful games in December as a minimum standard, and the 2022 Giants are guaranteed to have several of them.

They are 3-1 at home. “Our goal is to win at home, go undefeated at home,” Lawrence said. “That’s just something that we always want to do, build the crowd up and build a bigger fan base.”

A victory over the Texans would be another step in that direction. Daboll, as always, said the plans this week have proceeded without regard to mundane matters such as the status of the opponent.

“They never change based on who we’re playing,” Daboll said. “Some of them are game plan-specific. If we hit those marks, we give ourselves a chance. And if we don’t, we lose. Pretty simple.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.