New York Giants @ Houston Texans
Final Score: Giants 27, Texans 21 (OT)
Writer: Jay Felicio (@GMenJay on Twitter)
Three Up
- Cam Skattebo – Zero touches last week. 124 yards and the go-ahead score against the third-stingiest run defense this week.
- Malachi Fields – I had him as a sit. He went for a season-high 83 and moved the sticks three times.
- J.J. McCarthy – 20 of 28 for 252 with no turnovers in his second start. The fantasy line is empty; the throws weren’t.
Three Down
- Isaiah Likely – The TE1 on the season, averaging 10 targets a game, got four with his backup out.
- Nico Collins – Five targets, six yards. Woof.
- Jaylin Noel – A hundred and seven yards and a score last week. Negative three yards and a walking boot this week.
New York Giants
Quarterback
J.J. McCarthy: 20/28, 252 Yards, 0 TD, 0 INT | 1 Carry, 1 Yard
I gotta say, I came away genuinely impressed with J.J. McCarthy today. McCarthy went 20 of 28 for 252 with no turnovers, and a handful of throws that were just flat-out perfect. The 42-yarder to Malik Nabers in the first was a beauty, and my only nitpick is that leading him instead of making him come back for it is seven points instead of first and goal at the 2. He stepped up in a muddy pocket and threw on the run to Nabers for 17 to convert, then dropped a dime on him for 27 with 29 seconds left in the half. The 47-yard strike to Malachi Fields was the best ball anybody threw in this game, and he came back to Fields for 20 on third and four and again for 14 on third and nine to set up the go-ahead score. There were ugly ones in there too, and he threw zero touchdowns in a game his offense scored four. Which caps his fantasy ceiling no matter how clean the tape looks. But with Jaxson Dart on injured reserve, this is his job, and it should be, because he gives this team the best chance to win the week. Keep stacking afternoons like this one, and maybe we’re looking at a Darnold or Baker type arc: the first-rounder written off who gets a second chance and remembers how to play.
Missed Opportunities
- Leading Nabers on the 42-yarder instead of making him come back for it is seven points instead of first and goal at the 2.
- Left one short to Thomas Fidone II that should have been a long touchdown and settled for 29 and a first and goal at the 1.
- Overthrew Jalin Hyatt on a deep right shot in the second that should have been six. Houston’s defensive holding flag on the same snap bailed him out.
Jameis Winston: 4 Carries, 4 Yards, TD
Four carries, four yards, one touchdown. Jameis is the EZ Pass lane of this offense. He doesn’t drive the thing anywhere; he just shows up at the end and collects. He converted a third and one in the first, got stuffed at the 1 in the second before scoring on the very next tush push, and then picked up a fourth and one at the Houston 32 in the fourth. It’s a real package now, and it’s the reason every running back on this roster has a touchdown problem.
Running Back
Cam Skattebo: 17 Carries, 124 Yards, TD | 1 Target, 1 Reception, -3 Yards
I leaned toward Week 6 being a message rather than a benching. Message delivered, message received, and then some. Skatt went from not recording a single touch to 124 yards and the go-ahead score against a defense holding opponents to 83 rushing yards a game, third-fewest in the league. It opened as a two-man rotation with Tyrone Tracy Jr. (17 snaps to 10 over the first four drives), but after Tracy went down, it was Skatt on early downs and Singletary on passing downs. He did cost his own offense 13 yards with an unnecessary roughness penalty on a 7-yard run in the first, but breathe easy. He was right back in two plays later.
Notes
- 7.3 a carry and a season high in yards. The 17 carries are his second most of the year.
- Broke multiple tackles and spun out of another on the 16-yard go-ahead touchdown with 8:55 left in the fourth, making it 21-14.
- Fake tush push on third and one with 56 seconds left in the third went for 19.
- Took 42 up the middle on second and one in overtime to set up the game winner.
Devin Singletary: 5 Carries, 41 Yards, TD | 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 14 Yards
Skattebo’s 42-yarder put the Giants at the Houston 30 in overtime, and Singletary took the very next snap 30 yards up the middle, made a couple of guys miss and walked it in to end the game. A healthy inactive for three straight weeks earlier this season just won a football game. He finished at 8.2 a carry and caught all three balls thrown his way, and with Najee Harris released and Tracy’s hamstring in question, the passing down work is his alone now. There’s no reason he can’t handle more than eight touches, so go ahead and flex him with a straight face.
Tyrone Tracy Jr.: 6 Carries, 15 Yards, TD | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 2 Yards
Tracy scored the first touchdown of the game on a 2-yard punch-in to put New York up 7-3, and then the hamstring took the rest of his afternoon. He was splitting the backfield with Skattebo before that, 10 snaps to 17 across the first four drives, and he handled both of his kickoff returns for 53 yards with a 32-yarder in there. The 2.5 average looks worse than he actually played. New York’s Week 8 bye could not have shown up at a better time for him, but if this thing lingers the backfield belongs to Skatt and Singletary, and Tracy becomes a bench stash.
Missed Opportunities
- He pulled up with the hamstring on a 7-yard run with 5:29 left in the second and never came back out.
- Lost two on second and eight on the opening drive with nobody blocking in front of him.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Malik Nabers: 9 Targets, 7 Receptions, 111 Yards
The quarterback proof belt stays right where it is. Seven for 111 on nine targets without a score has somehow become a boring Nabers day, which tells you everything about where his floor sits. The 42-yarder down the right side in the first set up the opening touchdown; he converted on McCarthy’s running throw for 17, and he opened the overtime drive with a 9-yarder to get New York off its own goal line. He’s still the only receiver on this roster you start without thinking about it.
Missed Opportunities
- Dropped one McCarthy put right in his hands on third and 11 with 1:26 left in the first. Catch it even short of the sticks and a 56 yard field goal attempt becomes something near 48, and Zvada missed the 56.
Malachi Fields: 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 83 Yards
I had Fields as a sit, so file this one under me being wrong. He put up a season-high 83 yards on four catches at 20.8 a grab, and three of those four picked up a first down. The 47-yarder came on a short throw; he turned it into a chunk by running through the first tackle. He opened the second half with a 20-yard catch on third and four, and his 14-yarder on third and nine in the fourth is the play that put Skattebo in position for the go-ahead score. That’s two straight weeks of real volume after eight targets against New Orleans, and with Darnell Mooney contributing nothing and Theo Johnson out, those snaps aren’t going anywhere. Go spend a claim on him.
Darnell Mooney: 3 Targets, 1 Reception, 4 Yards | 1 Carry, 3 Yards
Mooney cleared the neck injury he left Week 6 with, and it didn’t change a thing. One catch for four yards, plus a 3-yard end around on fourth and two in the first that actually picked up the first down, and all three of his targets came in the third quarter. Seven games into the year, the man has nine catches. Fields is ahead of him now, and I don’t see that flipping back.
Missed Opportunities
- He caught a deep left ball with 8:05 left in the third, got the double toe tap down, then lost it when he hit the ground. Goes in the book as an incompletion and tells you nothing about anybody.
Isaiah Likely: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 12 Yards
Four targets. Likely came into this as the TE1 on the season, averaging 10 looks a game with a 28.6% target share that ranks first at the position, and he played 86% of the snaps with his only competition in street clothes. He walked out with four targets for 12 yards. Houston has let exactly one tight end into the end zone all season, so the lack of a score was always live, but four targets was never part of the plan. One bad afternoon doesn’t vaporize a 28.6% target share, so don’t go dumping him for pennies. Johnson sitting was supposed to be a green light, and it came back red.
Missed Opportunities
- A deep right ball in the third got ruined when Sheldon Rankins hit McCarthy as he let go of it.
- Short right in the fourth with Jadeveon Clowney draped all over him.
Thomas Fidone II: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 29 Yards
One target, 29 yards, and the biggest tight end play either team had all day. It got New York down to the Houston 1 and Winston punched it in two snaps later. It’s also Fidone’s first catch of the season, which showed up in the exact game Likely was supposed to own outright. Nobody is starting him, but write the name down if Johnson’s neck drags into November.
Missed Opportunities
- McCarthy left the ball short and made him stop and wait on it. Thrown properly, that’s a long touchdown instead of a first and goal.
Jalin Hyatt: 0 Targets, 0 Receptions, 0 Yards
Zeros all the way across, and the only reason is that the one ball thrown his way officially never happened. McCarthy overthrew him on a deep right shot in the second that had touchdown written on it, and Houston got flagged for defensive holding on the same snap, which wiped the play and the target along with it. He was activated off the practice squad Saturday and played four offensive snaps as the fourth receiver.
Houston Texans
Quarterback
C.J. Stroud: 17/28, 153 Yards, 2 TD, 0 INT | 2 Carries, 4 Yards
I called this a delectable matchup and had Stroud pushing for the top five. He threw for 153. A guy who’d averaged over 300 yards and two scores across his previous three games managed 5.5 yards per attempt while his offense punted six times, and the only thing keeping this from being a full disaster is that both of his touchdowns found the end zone in the final minute of a half. The box credits the Giants with one sack, but he spent the afternoon getting chased, and his two best plays came out of exactly that. On second and 14 with 58 seconds left in the half, he scrambled, held it long enough for Dalton Schultz to come open and hit him for 17 down to the 6. Three snaps later, he laid a dart on a slant to Marvin Harrison Jr. on third and goal to tie it at 14. His 3-yarder to Xavier Hutchinson with 52 seconds left in the fourth tied it a second time.
Missed Opportunities
- Overthrew Nico Collins on a deep ball in the first while getting rid of it under duress.
- Missed Harrison twice on deep middle shots in the fourth.
- Went incomplete twice from his own 35 in overtime and then punted the game away.
Running Back
Woody Marks: 19 Carries, 66 Yards | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 15 Yards
Thirty-fourth at the position in points per game, fiftieth in yards after contact per attempt. Those are the numbers Marks walked in with, and 19 carries for 66 yards did absolutely nothing to move either one. With David Montgomery out again on the groin for a second straight week, his snap rate climbed to 89% while Dare Ogunbowale rotated in on third downs without touching the ball a single time. He did recover Hutchinson’s fourth-quarter fumble and run it three yards, which might have been his cleanest moment of the day. Start him while Monty’s out. Just don’t talk yourself into a ceiling.
Missed Opportunities
- A 27-yard run in the fourth came straight back on a Schultz holding penalty, and a 4-yard catch in the second got erased by a hold.
- He got stripped at his own 41 in the third and watched it go 41 yards the other way for a Giants touchdown before the replay official ruled him down by contact and erased the whole thing. He was hurt on the play and returned in the fourth.
- Stuffed at the three on second and goal in the fourth, which is the only reason Stroud had to throw for the tying score.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Nico Collins: 5 Targets, 2 Receptions, 6 Yards
Five targets, six yards, from the WR8 on the season on a per-game basis. What keeps me from caring too much is that none of the new bodies in this receiver room have taken a thing off his plate. He’s still the X; he played 89% of the snaps in 11 personnel and every single one in 12, and his route participation hasn’t dropped under 80% in a game all year. Throws his way also drew a defensive holding and a pass interference, so the ball is still pointed in his direction. Start him next week and pretend this didn’t happen.
Notes
- Both of his catches came on the same third quarter drive.
Missed Opportunities
- Deonte Banks broke up two of his three incompletions, and the deep ball in the first was overthrown with nobody near it, Texan or Giant.
Xavier Hutchinson: 6 Targets, 3 Receptions, 17 Yards, TD | 2 Carries, 12 Yards
Hutchinson muffed the opening kickoff, recovered it himself and ran it out to the 35. That was the first 15 seconds of the game, and it set the tone for the strangest afternoon anybody had. He tied Schultz for the team target lead with six, caught three of them for 17, ran twice for 12, including the 10-yarder that got Houston down to the 5 on the tying drive, and then hauled in the 3-yard touchdown on third and goal. Throw in three kick returns for 74, and he was involved in just about everything. You need the touchdown to make the fantasy math work, but if Jaylin Noel‘s toe costs him games, Hutchinson is first in line for those snaps.
Missed Opportunities
- Drew 21 yards of defensive pass interference on a deep right ball in the second that would have been a big gain had the Giants just played it.
- A four-yard catch in the first got reversed to incomplete on a Giants challenge.
- Fumbled a catch in the fourth that Marks had to go get.
Marvin Harrison Jr: 4 Targets, 1 Reception, 6 Yards, TD
Four targets on 12 snaps in his Houston debut, four targets on a full workload this week. That’s not a trend line, that’s a flat line. The one catch was the touchdown, a slant on third and goal placed exactly where it had to be with 34 seconds left in the half, and Cade Stover’s two-point conversion right behind it tied the game at 14. The chemistry with Stroud is real, and I still believe in it, but four looks in a 28-attempt game isn’t what you give up assets for, and he’s still splitting one rotation spot with Kayshon Boutte and Tank Dell while he waits his turn.
Missed Opportunities
- Two overthrown deep middle shots in the fourth, one with DJ Reader in Stroud’s face as he threw it.
Tank Dell: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 43 Yards | 1 Carry, 2 Yards
Nearly two years ago Dell tore his ACL, MCL, LCL and meniscus in the same afternoon. Sunday he played football again and produced the longest play of the game for either team, a 43-yard shot down the middle right after the two-minute warning in the second that set up Houston’s first touchdown. Add a 2-yard run and a 14-yard punt return, and that was his day. The speed is clearly still in there, which is the good news. The bad news is he’s one of six receivers in this room, and the deep shot is his whole job description, so plan on one swing a week.
Dalton Schultz: 6 Targets, 5 Receptions, 45 Yards
Seven games into the season and Schultz still hasn’t found the end zone. He tied for the team target lead and led Houston in catches, going 5 for 6 at nine a clip, which adds up to a day anybody could have predicted back in August. His one real play was the 17-yarder down to the Giants’ 6 with under a minute left in the half, where he hit the ground, got back up, and finished both the catch and the first down. All floor, no roof.
Missed Opportunities
- Still no touchdown through seven games on a team that has scored plenty of them.
- His offensive holding in the fourth erased Marks’ 27-yard run.
Kayshon Boutte: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 25 Yards
Jaylin Noel: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, -3 Yards
Cade Stover: 1 Target, 1 Reception, -1 Yards, 2 Pt Conversion | 1 Carry, 0 Yards
Five targets, four catches and 21 total yards between the three of them. Boutte’s 25-yarder on a deep middle throw in the second was the only genuinely useful snap in the group and it set up a Fairbairn field goal. Stover got used as a gadget piece more than a tight end, taking a direct snap on third and one that went nowhere and losing a yard on his only catch, though he did convert the two pointer after the Harrison score, which is the sole point this trio is worth in most formats. Six receivers in the room with five of them rotating for the two spots behind Collins, and none of that changes until somebody gets traded or hurt.
Missed Opportunities
- Noel walked in off his first 100-yard and 20-point game of the season and walked out with two catches for negative three yards.
- Noel hurt his toe during the game and was in a walking boot afterward.