New York Giants Week 10: By the Numbers

Stephen Lebitsch looks at superlatives from the Giants' 24-16 win over the Houston Texans.

Coming off a handful of the New York Giants’ victories this season, a common message head coach Brian Daboll has emphasized is that it’s tough to win in the NFL, and his group must stay humble amid their successes. As the rookie head coach’s team secured their seventh win on Sunday, that motto held again, with the visitors making a run for New York’s money.

Returning from their bye week to kickstart an important two-game homestand, the Giants rode another 100-yard rushing day from Saquon Barkley and multiple defensive stops in the red zone to escape the Houston Texans, 24-16, and improve their record to 7-2 on the season. The win marks a 3-0 showing against the AFC South division and keeps New York in second place in the NFC East race.

For most of the afternoon, the surefire contest felt like a potential upset in the making, as the Texans’ offense—behind a season-high 319 passing yards from quarterback Davis Mills—found their groove and knocked on the door of the endzone multiple times in the second half. Inside the 20, however, the Giants' stout defense forced an interception and fumble on consecutive drives, thwarting the opposition’s push and providing the difference-making plays in a one-score final affair.

Two weeks after the unit was held to just 37 total yards in the first two frames by Seattle, the Giants’ offense continued their woes with a first half marred by short possessions and punts after an opening drive touchdown. On the other side of the break, Daniel Jones led a combined 185-yard, two-touchdown performance by the group, and the Giants capitalized off newfound red zone success to post their second-highest points total of the year and similar yards total in the last five games.

In the receiving department, the season-long struggle to distribute the football and alleviate the run game also reared its ugly head early. Despite 106 passing yards in the initial 30 minutes, the Giants threw the ball just 12 times—almost half the amount of times they rushed the pigskin—and had only two players with two receptions.

Yet, in the same fashion, Big Blue altered the course of the game with a few big aerial plays, including a timely touchdown by wide receiver Darius Slayton to open the third quarter, and finished with 197 important yards to close out their third-best outing of 2022.

The outcome indicated a pattern developed throughout the Giants’ storybook campaign. The team has consistently fought through one-dimensional offensive efforts and an often weary defense to win close football games, focusing on improving mistakes for the following week’s opponent.

Whether it takes two premier talents or the entire 22 on both sides of the football, New York has played with a constant chip on their shoulder, and their efforts have resulted in joyous endings nearly every Sunday. Once the final whistle sounds, the message becomes to hold onto the positives, fix the negatives, and stay grounded in the moment.

As Daboll alluded to in his postgame presser, the wins may seem like they’ve been coming easy, but they can just as feasibly reverse into losses when humility goes out the window. The Giants learned that lesson again in Week 10, and it’ll certainly follow them as they remain at MetLife to welcome the feisty Detroit Lions.

Let’s take a deeper dive into the numbers that mattered most to the Giants' latest victory in the spirit of Sunday's moment.

Daniel Jones’ Record-Setting Day

With each week and subsequent impressive performance that passes, it becomes harder to imagine anybody bringing a reasonable critique against the play and leadership of Daniel Jones in 2022. Entering Week 10, the Giants’ fourth-year quarterback held top-25 numbers in passing yards and touchdowns and was ranked second-best in interceptions, for which he’d gone five straight games without giving up one throw to the opposition.

Taking the field on Sunday, the unfathomable campaign continued as Jones posted another quality showing and added a new flashy record to his resume. On the back end of the bye week, the Giants gunslinger bounced back from a sluggish outing in Seattle to complete 13 of his 17 passing attempts for 197 yards and two touchdowns, his third-best mark of the season.

Jones's overall passer rating made the final stat line even more impressive, where the quarterback’s efficient afternoon landed him an astounding, career-high 153.3 rating. The number also marked the highest passer rating by a quarterback in the NFL this season, and its only individual competitor was Jones’ 115.9 rating set in Week 1 against Tennessee.

For the 25-year-old, the feat further cemented what has been a tell-tale year in the face of looming contract discussions this summer. Yet, in his mind, it was less on his shoulders as it was the playmaking of his supporting cast in both phases of the offense.

The connections with his teammates started early in the first quarter, when Jones commanded the Giants offense down a 10-play, 68-yard opening drive that featured passes to four receivers for 62 yards. Lined up at the Houston 9-yard line on second down, Jones dished his ultimate throw to tight end Lawrence Cager for the 9-yard score to give New York a strong 7-0 advantage.

Cager was a recent addition to the starting offense amid injuries to the tight end position with Daniel Bellinger sidelined. 

In the remainder of the first half, Jones and the Giants' passing attack was stifled by Houston’s aggressive secondary, tallying only 44 passing yards before the break and dangling to a 7-3 lead. Only two receivers—tight end Tanner Hudson and wide receiver Darius Slayton—had at least two catches and 24 yards receiving heading into the locker room.

After receiving the football after the halftime adjustments, Jones would find his fire again by resurrecting his connection with Slayton. Five plays into a 75-yard drive, Jones got off a pass under pressure on third down to Slayton, who shed what looked like a definitive fourth down tackle and took the ball 54 yards to the house for a second Giants touchdown on the day.

Slayton, who now leads the team in receiving with 327 yards, has fully taken advantage of his opportunity to contribute amid injuries and inefficiency. Once labeled a fringe addition to the roster in training camp, the former 2019 fifth-round pick has had three straight games with at least 58 yards receiving and two touchdowns to offer Jones a weapon to throw to when the run game is shut down.

Jones would Shepard the offense to two more scoring drives and complete passes to eight different pass catchers the rest of the way. The Giants finished the game with a 7-14 third-down efficiency and 2-2 red zone conversion percentage, both numbers some of their sharpest in the 2022 season.

Looking back at Jones’ outing, he might not have thrown the football an astounding 40 times nor slashed the game books with over 300 yards passing. As his team has proven all year long, it’s efficiency that matters the most to winning, and the quarterback did enough to help his team win on Sunday.

Keep things rolling, and the Giants’ offseason dilemma will get that much murkier.

Saquon’s “Comeback” Season Continues

Amid all his success since returning from consecutive injury-ridden campaigns, Giants running back Saquon Barkley refuses to let his season be defined as a “comeback.”

In the former No. 2 overall selection’s mind, the version of Barkley we’ve seen on display throughout the team’s first eight games has been the player that’s always been pounding the pigskin in New York for the past five seasons. The full beast from 2018 has just been chained down by lingering injuries, waiting patiently to reemerge and show the doubters that the old 26 never left the hash marks of MetLife Stadium, to begin with.

Making his ninth start of the season with a healthy set of legs behind him, Barkley once again changed the narratives on his career with a fourth dominant rushing effort of the 2022 season. Seeing his heaviest usage of the year, the Penn State product carried the ball 35 times for 152 yards (4.3 average), a touchdown, a season-high performance, and his fourth 100-yard showcase in the Giants' first nine games.

From the opening possession, the 25-year-old Barkley left his mark on the woeful Texans rush defense, taking more than half of the Giants snaps (34 total) in the first 30 minutes through several different means. Early on, he was deployed behind a jumbo set with extra linemen and pounded the ball up the middle. As the game plan progressed, Barkley began taking his talents outside to find open seams for a footrace and making catches on the perimeter in the passing game.

By the end of the game, the Giants' premier running back had more touches to his stat line than in any game he played in at the high school or collegiate level.

The best rushing contribution of Barkley’s afternoon came in the second quarter when the Giants had the rushing attack grooving on seven of the drive’s nine plays. On the second snap of the possession, Barkley bounced outside and touched Houston for 27 yards, earning his second-longest run of the last five games and longest on the game. He would touch the ball five times in that span for 39 yards alone.

Then in the third quarter came the moment he punched one into the endzone. At the Houston 2-yard line on the Giants’ second possession of the frame, Barkley trudged over the goal line to cap a 12-play, 74-yard drive with the touchdown and give the Giants a commanding 21-10 lead. He now holds six scores on the season, tied for sixth among running backs.

Given how much he received the snaps, there was heavy curiosity postgame surrounding the Giants’ decision-making down the stretch of the contest. Both Barkley and Daboll were asked whether the team was playing conservatively due to a weaker passing attack and if the plan was formulated during the week because of Houston’s last-ranked run defense.

After returning to full contact activities this summer with consecutive ACL and ankle injuries behind him, Barkley has put on a box office showing for the Giants faithful that is gaining national recognition for Comeback Player of the Year consideration. He started the 2022 season with a career-high 164 rushing performance against the Titans, making a statement with a tough 2-point conversion to help the Giants seal the upset win.

In Weeks 4 and 7, Barkley followed up his season debut with two more 100-yard rushing outings. The first came against Chicago, where he ran the ball 31 times for 146 yards, his second-highest total carries after Sunday. Against Jacksonville, Barkley dashed 24 times for 110 yards to rank himself among the top-tier ball carriers at the midway point.

With Sunday’s performance, Barkley has four such games to his 2022 resume, and that number figures to grow as the rest of the season progresses. If anything, the Giants have relied on him to be the difference for the offense, with the back holding 198 rushes for 931 yards and six touchdowns. Crossing the 1,000-yard mark would be the first time since 2019 when he did it for the second consecutive time.

In the aftermath of a record 35 handoffs against the Texans, the running back seems unfazed by the opportunities in front of him and is hungry to carry his play into his first postseason push.

Dexter Lawrence Leads Dominant Defense

Reflecting on the Giants’ first-half defensive accomplishments under defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, common mentions will include the run-stuffing prowess of Leonard Williams up front, the lockdown coverage of Adoree Jackson on the outside, and the tackling stronghold by Tae Crowder in the middle linebacker spot.

Yet, it would be naive to discount the incredible contributions of defensive linemen Dexter Lawrence through that same span. The main reason being the ferociousness he’s played with in recent weeks has lit up the Giants’ defensive stat sheet, and that was no different Sunday against the Texans.

Entering the battle with Houston, Lawrence ranked sixth amongst Giants’ defensive players with 28 tackles, four sacks, 1.5 tackles for a loss, and two passes deflected. The 2019 first-round pick’s numbers in the backfield had him positioned first in the franchise’s 2022 books and within the top 32 in the league for the total sacks category.

Taking the field to diminish the rushing efforts of Houston stalwart Dameon Pierce, Lawrence added to his resume by unleashing one of the most dominant outings seen by a Giants player at the position in recent history. Finishing sixth on the final defensive report, he tallied five tackles, one sack for nine yards, and five quarterback hits. To sweeten the load, he also provided one deflected pass and was one of a half dozen players with at least five tackles on the afternoon.

Lawrence said after the game he felt the play of his front line was critical in limiting the rushing dominance of Pierce, who came into MetLife Stadium ranked fifth and sixth in rushing yards and touchdowns, respectively. The workhorse left with 17 carries for 94 yards and one long play of 61 yards, a significant drop off from the 135 he posted in Week 9.

In addition to his run-stuffing efforts, Lawrence was aided by fellow defensive linemen and captain Leonard Williams, who led the unit with nine tackles, 0.5 sacks, one quarterback hit, and one forced fumble that stalled a Texans’ red zone push. With both players holding the interior gaps, the Giants have ranked top-10 in rushing attempts and touchdowns and have been able to remain competitive despite their low-production offense.

While the Clemson product’s sack came early in the first half, the forced fumble by Williams in the fourth quarter was the first of two big defensive stops in the red zone on back-to-back possessions by Houston to keep the Giants ahead for their seventh contested win. On the final play of an eight-play, 68-yard drive with the ball on the Giants’ 10, Davis Mills handed off to Pierce, hoping the back could bull rush it closer to the goal line to cut the deficit.

Two yards into his progression, the ball was jarred loose by Williams and Kayvon Thibodeaux and recovered by linebacker Jaylon Smith at the seven-yard line to give the Giants the football and maintain their 21-10 advantage with 14:09 in regulation. During the following Houston drive, the Giants would pick off a deep ball by Mills to Phillip Dorsett inside the 20-yard line, stopping the Texans' offense in their tracks twice in five minutes and holding their red zone efficiency to below 20%.

If the Giants want to keep their dominance in the trenches going beyond Sunday, it will start up front with the formidable play of his star defensive tackles.

Dane Belton Knots His First

Heading into Sunday’s contest, the Giants were uncertain about the safety position.

During the bye week, starter and captain Xavier McKinney suffered a non-football-related hand injury, landing him on the IR list for the immediate future. With the position’s premier player sidelined, New York would have to roll out with a mix of Julian Love and rookie Dane Belton against the Texans, the latter’s snaps limited by the depth ahead of him at the midway point of the season.

None of that inexperience seemed to matter to Belton, who took advantage of the offseason tutelage from McKinney to solidify one of the biggest defensive plays of the afternoon. Along with his four combined tackles and one deflected pass, the Iowa product stepped up in the second half to thwart a Texans’ red zone, earning his career turnover with an interception in the endzone and keeping the Giants lead at 21-10.

In the fourth quarter, the Texans offense orchestrated a four-play, 23-yard drive that started at their 48-yard line and traveled to the Giants’ 14 with 2:11 of game time. On first and second down from that spot, quarterback Davis Mills went incomplete on a shot to Nico Collins before converting for four yards to Jordan Akins to creep closer to the endzone and a looming score.

However, an illegal shift penalty derailed the ground gained, forcing Houston back five yards to attempt the play again from the Giants’ 19. On the following snap, Mills found his red zone punch with a deep ball to Brandon Cooks that the veteran receiver secured in the endzone for a 19-yard score to temporarily cut the game to 21-17.

Yet again, the touchdown was nullified by a penalty, this time an offensive holding infraction by rookie guard Kenyon Green and the Texans were pushed back another 10 yards from the promised land. Standing at the 29-yard line for the sixth play of the drive, Mills dared to challenge the Giants' secondary again with a deep ball intended for Phillip Dorsett, and that’s when the rookie Belton flew in for the shutdown play.

Coming across the middle, Belton elevated over the top of the route to cut off Dorsett’s receiving window. He snatched the ball out of the sky to secure his first career interception and shut down the Texans’ second straight red zone attempt. Belton succumbed in the endzone for the touchback, and the Giants held their 11-point advantage until late in the final frame.

After the win, the 2022 fourth-round pick expressed his gratitude for the chance to make a big play on the opponent’s second attempt, a reality that isn’t given when one steps into the professional ranks.

With the help of Belton’s interception, the Giants’ defense maintained their strict stronghold in the red zone this season. They held the Houston offense to 1-6 (17% conversion rate) inside the 20-yard line, a candidate for the lowest percentage allowed by a team in the NFL. At the ten-week mark of the year, New York’s bunch ranks second in red zone percentage allowing just 38.2% of attempts to score 13 touchdowns.

Before McKinney’s injury, it was rare to see a heavy dose of Belton on the field. With the veteran from Alabama earning most of the snaps and the secondary role filled by Julian Love, Belton entered Sunday’s game with just 19 total tackles and two games holding more than three on his part. Thus, there were outside concerns about his fit into the pressure-heavy scheme of Wink Martindale and whether communication would get jostled between him and Love at the third level of coverage.

The duo would go on to account for nine of the Giants’ 58 total tackles and force a critical mishap on the other side of the football, making it clear the pressure was never there and the connection was solid in their leader’s absence.

After missing much of the voluntary offseason activities and training camp with a shoulder injury, the Giants don’t seem to believe Belton is experiencing rookie growing pains. Despite missing the first contest in September, the 21-year-old has appeared in all seven affairs and posted 23 tackles with one interception, and two deflected passes.

His numbers expect to grow in the coming weeks, and head coach Brian Daboll is more than comfortable with handing him and Love increased roles until McKinney returns later in the season. 

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