On Sunday, the New York Giants improved to 4-2-1 with a 27-21 overtime road victory over the Houston Texans.
Despite entering as double-digit underdogs, New York may have pulled off its best and most surprising performance of the season. They had nearly 200 more total yards than the Houston Texans, who were coming off back-to-back wins and appeared on the verge of going on a run.
Meanwhile, the Giants were coming off a disappointing loss against the New Orleans Saints, where they allowed 34 consecutive points, replaced quarterbacks and benched their starting quarterback. And yet, things feel much different for the Giants one week later.
New York will now head to its bye week as division leaders coming off their most impressive win of the season.
However, the Giants may still have issues on their team as one important Giants starter was called out for his performance during the team’s win.
New York Giants Left Tackle Andrew Thomas Called Out
Following Sunday’s New York Giants win, Giants on SI’s Alex House included left tackle Andrew Thomas as one of the team’s losers from the game.
House wrote: “As long as Andrew Thomas stays on the field, good things are supposed to happen. The veteran left tackle has not competed at an elite level for most of the campaign, though he is battling a groin injury that is clearly hampering his play.
But if Thomas is active, he has to be fairly scrutinized. The 2022 second-team All-Pro allowed a Danielle Hunter sack and surrendered two pressures to a talented yet underachieving Texans defensive line. Hopefully, the week off will help.
If not, the Giants may have a season-long problem.”
Thomas was absent from New York’s practice on Wednesday before being a limited participant in the two practices leading up to Sunday’s game.
Hopefully, the bye week will allow the team’s left tackle to rest and heal. Despite his performance against Houston and the nagging injuries, Thomas has been graded by Pro Football Focus as a top-15 tackle in the NFL this season.
Harbaugh’s Comments After Impressive Win
After a week in which New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh saw many of his decisions questioned, an impressive victory was exactly what the team needed to remedy the doubts about their head coaching hire.
Harbaugh said after the game of the win, “That was a players’ win in every way, blocking, tackling, special teams, covering kicks, pass game, operating, getting stops when we needed stops, fighting back from adversity. But just playing one play at a time, as well as you can, regardless of the last play with no thought for the next play, as hard as you can.
As [OLB] Abdul Carter told the guys at halftime, ‘No matter, what empty the tank. No matter what, come back in here with nothing left, and that’s what they did’. The other thing, the work that they put in, lifting and running, practicing, everything, to continue to be strong in the fourth quarter and be strong in the fifth quarter is impressive. Our guys have done that. They’ve been the stronger team at the end of pretty much every game so far this year. Really happy with them, and I think the players deserve all the credit for this great victory against a really good team.”
Giants Starter Called Out After Texans Win: “May Have a Season-Long Problem”