Tom Rock grades the Giants

OFFENSE B Take away two drives that ended in interceptions in the third quarter and Eli Manning was 26-for-37 with 289 passing yards and three touchdowns. Of course he did have those two picks, which has been a problem for the offense all year. One of the turnovers led to the only touchdown of the game for the Texans. The Giants did a good job of keeping Manning clean - he was not sacked - and they were able to run the ball against a tough defense. Hakeem Nicks was spectacular; with the exception of the one drop down the sideline it would have been a record-setting game for him.

DEFENSEAIn the last two weeks the Giants have registered 13 sacks, allowed one sustained scoring drive that ended in a field goal, and have dominated two impressive offenses in the Bears and the Texans. Corey Webster had an interception and the Giants' secondary did a good job of not biting too much on play-action fakes by Matt Schaub. Osi Umenyiora remains the master of sacking the quarterback without taking him to the ground; rather he swipes at the arm and causes fumbles as he did yesterday. Jonathan Goff played well and had a tone-setting stick on Arian Foster early. Justin Tuck and Barry Cofield each had two tackles for a loss.

SPECIAL TEAMS

B The kicking game was straightened out. Lawrence Tynes was 2-for-2 on field goals and had a third taken off the board, and Matt Dodge, no longer worrying about his holds, was solid punting the ball. The one drawback: Darius Reynaud's days as a return man might be ending as he had one decent kickoff return but muffed a fair catch on a punt.

COACHINGA The defensive game plan to limit the cutbacks and disrupt the Texans' zone blocking scheme was the first time any team had been able to slow down Houston's running attack. It was something the coaches focused on and it was executed. The move to Sage Rosenfels as the holder was smart, but falls into the "it's about time" category.