How does the Big Blue View staff see Sunday’s New York Giants vs. Houston Texans game? See our picks for that game and the rest of the NFL Week 7 slate below.
Chris Pflum
Bottom line up front: I don’t expect the Giants to win this game. I won’t go so far as to say that they can’t win the game, but things are stacking up against them.
The Giants are, frankly, beat up. left tackle Andrew Thomas is dealing with his groin injury, right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor has his calf injury, and offensive tackle Marcus Mbow suffered a knee injury at the end of the Saints game. Cornerback Greg Newsome II, safety Jevon Holland, and cornerback Colton Hood are in the concussion protocol, and tight end Theo Johnson is still dealing with a neck injury.
On the flip side, DeMeco Ryans has retaken control of the Texans’ defense, while C.J. Stroud has been playing some of the best football of his career. And though the Texans’ run game has been bad, Stroud is getting weapons in WRs Marvin Harrison Jr. and Tank Dell, while the Giants are scraping the bottom of the depth chart in their secondary.
Starting J.J. McCarthy could provide a spark to the Giants’ offense and allow them to play the style of football for which they were built. But I just don’t know if that would be enough in the face of the Giants’ injuries.
A win going into the BYE week would be an amazing boost and allow the Giants to keep pace in the division. And the upset could absolutely happen — football has been weird this year and we’ve seen some absolutely wild outcomes. But I’m afraid this could be an ugly one for New York.
Pick: Texans
Tony Del Genio
I’ve thought since before the season started that this was one of the most likely games for the Giants to lose. The Texans’ poor start made me start to reconsider. Their defense, one of the best in the NFL last year, has had a slow start. Cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter have not played up to their previous standards, so there is an opportunity for the Giants to stay in the game and pull off an upset if they can get their passing game to click. The Texans have given up more than 30 points three times. Last week Trevor Lawrence shredded them for 306 yards and 4 TDs.
Alas, the strength of the Texans’ D is their pass rush off the edge, with the NFL’s best pass rusher, Will Anderson Jr., and Danielle Hunter (14 sacks and 60 pressures between them) leading the way. The Giants sadly have Andrew Thomas and Jermaine Eluemunor both dealing with injuries. If both cannot play or play at less than 100%, it may be a long afternoon for J.J. McCarthy in his first Giants start. Despite my misgivings about John Harbaugh making him the starter in this game rather than after the break, McCarthy does give them the best chance to mitigate the Texans’ pass rush. The Texans’ run defense is not formidable, but to say the least the Giants’ run blocking is not either, regardless of who the lead running back du jour is on Sunday.
When Houston is on offense, C.J. Stroud got off to a bad start this season but has played much better for the past month. The Giants’ defensive back room is decimated by injury, with Greg Newsome, Jevon Holland, and Colton Hood all dealing with concussions, although Paulson Adebo is expected to be back this week. Who is going to cover Nico Collins, one of the NFL’s best big receivers, is anyone’s guess. Jaylin Noel and Xavier Hutchinson are no slouches, either, and the Giants will see Marvin Harrison Jr. for the second time after he caught his only TD of the season again them in the Arizona game.
Pick: Texans
David Hartman
The Giants head to Houston this Sunday after a disappointing home loss to the Saints. J.J. McCarthy came out of the bullpen in the second half of that contest and the Big Blue news of the week is that McCarthy will start this game. The timing is slightly surprising given that New York has its Bye next week, but here we are, with a former Top-10 pick getting a shot at reviving his career after he failed in Minnesota.
Can J.J. lead his team to victory, and keep the G-Men in first place in the division? This writer is very skeptical, although to be fair the Giants will remain in first place through Week 7 regardless of the outcome of this game. Weird, right? The plight of the once-mighty NFC East is a story for another day.
Houston has some of the best defensive personnel in the NFL, led by edge Will Anderson, Jr. and corner Derek Stingley, Jr. In last year’s AFC playoffs, C.J. Stroud was a turnover machine and an absolute mess, but Demeco Ryans’s defense was suffocating and almost carried the Texans to the AFC Championship game. This season has been an inexplicable reverse, with Stroud playing out of his mind and the defense giving up a ton of yards and points, especially through the air.
The Texans started 0-4 but have won their last two, including a huge win in London last week over the first place Jaguars. Don’t expect a letdown, as they’re still reeling from their horrible start, and need this game badly.
McCarthy’s play last week was encouraging, but it was in mop-up duty against a bad defense that pulled some of its starters. This is a real test, and it’s hard to ignore the 2025 tape of J.J. He was that bad (hence, his fifth round price tag when New York traded for him). His mobility is a plus, and Malik Nabers and Isaiah Likely have been uncoverable recently. Still, I don’t see McCarthy avoiding mistakes and playing well for 60 minutes, or the Giants pulling off the upset. Houston is a very good team, despite its losing record.
Pick: Texans
Valentine’s View
Whether I picked them to win or not, with the exception of the Week 2 game against the Los Angeles Rams, I have felt that the Giants have had a good opportunity to win each game thus far this season.
I can’t say I feel good about their chances. I am not sure why the point spread has ballooned from 7.5 points to start the week to 10.5 as of Thursday, but I know I don’t have confidence in the Giants’ ability to upset the Texans.
The Giants squandered real opportunities to win games the last two weeks, coming away with a tie and a loss in games they easily could have won. That stretch may haunt them.
What I fear most, honestly, is the Texans’ defense. Houston has been middling on defense so far, but allowed the second-fewest points in the NFL last season. There is a breakout game coming. With the Giants switching quarterbacks, struggling to run the ball, and entering the game with their top three offensive tackles at less than 100%, I think that might be this week.
I don’t want it to be, but I think J.J. McCarthy’s debut as the starting quarterback might turn ugly.
Pick: Texans