The New York Giants (6-2) host the Houston Texans (1-6-1) at MetLife Stadium this Sunday in a game between tow teams heading in different directions (we think).
Here are five storylines we’re following in Week 10.
Giants are rare favorites
The Giants are favored to win for just the third time this season. They were favored at home against the Dallas Cowboys by one point in Week 3 and by three points against the Chicago Bears in Week 4.
They lost outright to Dallas, 23-16, and then outpaced the Bears, 20-12.
The Giants opened this week as 6.5-point favorites over the Texans but that number has been bet down to 4.5, which is still the largest margin they’ve been favored by this season if it holds.
Big Blue is 6-2 against the spread this year while the Texans are 4-3-1.
The over/under was bet up to 41 from 38.5 earlier in the week. In the Giants’ eight games this season, the under has come in six times. The O/U is 4-4 in Houston’s eight games.
Injury update: Golladay to return?
The Giants could get wide receiver Kenny Golladay (knee) back this week. He hasn’t played since Week 4 against the Bears and hasn’t caught a pass since the season opener in Tennessee.
The Giants’ passing game has been almost nonexistent this season, averaging just 159.1 yards per game. A healthy Golladay could give them the boost they need.
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka wants to take more shots downfield going forward and perhaps Golladay could be in for some deep targets.
A post-McKinney world
Xavier McKinney’s untimely ATV accident has left them short at safety for the next month, maybe more. Rookie Dane Belton will see a more prominent role in a tandem that includes potential Pro Bowler Julian Love and Jason Pinnock.
The Giants have six cornerbacks, which includes rookie Cor’Dale Flott, who could return from a calf injury this week, but there’s really no way they cannot miss McKinney. An unfortunate happening for a defense that had been gelling.
Get ready for a running showdown
The Texans are dead last in the NFL in defending the run this season. They have allowed 180.6 yards per game this year thus far (207.0 over their last three) and that has to have the Giants and Saquon Barkley licking their chops.
On the other side of the ledger, the Texans have their own stud back in rookie Dameon Pierce, who is sixth in the NFL in rushing. Why this is significant is because the Giants’ have allowed the eighth-most yards (137.2 YPG) on the ground this season, so Pierce could be an issue. He also leads the league in broken tackles with 26.
Can the Giants continue their good fortune?
The last time we saw the Giants, they were losing very sloppily in Seattle, as punt returner Richie James lost two fumbles resulting in 10 Seahawks points.
That ended a long string of nearly flawless football by Big Blue this year and humanized them a bit. Their detractors exhaled a sigh a relief that the ‘real’ Giants were finally back.
Don’t tell that to the Giants, who are still spinning a lot of positive rhetoric.
“Important game. At home. Going to have to play well,” head coach Brian Daboll told the media Tuesday. “Came off a bye. Feel like we’re rested. The guys have had a lot of good energy here these last couple of days, and we need to go out there and have a good week like we do every week.”
