New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo was much more careful with the ball in overtime this time around.
After his costly fumble in overtime two weeks ago relegated his team to a tie, the second-year running back out of Arizona State felt the pressure coming from behind on what was a game-deciding 42-yard rumble, and hit the deck to play it safe.
On the very next play, Devin Singletary took a draw play 30 yards to the house to clinch a 27-21 Giants victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday at Reliant Stadium, which broke a two-game winless snide. With it, New York (4-2-1) opened up a 2.5-game lead in first place in the NFC East.
Following a week in which head coach John Harbaugh pleaded for any of his three running backs to snatch the starting job, Skattebo answered in what was his first real action since that fumble. After being limited to zero touches in last week’s loss to the New Orleans Saints, Skattebo went off for 124 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
He broke a pair of tackles on a rumbling 16-yard score with 8:55 left in the fourth quarter to put the Giants ahead 21-14, but the Texans punched right back with 52 seconds remaining when CJ Stroud hit Xavier Hutchinson from three yards out to force overtime.
But a good portion of the offensive talk should deservedly surround quarterback JJ McCarthy, who was solid in his first start with the Giants. The 23-year-old completed 20 of 28 passes for 252 yards. Including his fourth-quarter relief appearance last week against the Saints, he’s passed for 495 yards in his last five quarters.
McCarthy completed 9-of-12 passes for 178 yards in the first half, including a pair of 40-yard completions to Malik Nabers and Malachi Fields in the first quarter. He became the first Giants quarterback with two 40-plus-yard completions in a single quarter since Eli Manning in 2011.
The 42-yard connection to Nabers set up the Giants’ first touchdown of the day — a two-yard touchdown run by Tyrone Tracy Jr. — to take a 7-3 lead
The second of those big first-quarter plays to Fields showed just how good McCarthy can be. Known for his high-velocity throws, he threaded the needle on a delivery near 50 mph to find the rookie receiver down the left sideline on the mid-range completion. Fields then rumbled down the sidelines for a 47-yard gain.
Rookie kicker Zvada, though, could not capitalize on the big play when he missed a 56-yard field goal — his first of two on the day.
The Giants went up 14-6 with 3:32 left in the second quarter when backup quarterback Jameis Winston was pushed in from a yard out. The score was set up by an unlikely 29-yard completion to rookie tight end Thomas Fidone, who was active in Theo Johnson’s absence.
After the Texans rumbled down and tied it with 34 seconds left in the half, McCarthy quickly got the Giants into field goal range before the break thanks to a brilliant throw off his back foot to find Nabers down the left sideline for a 27-yard gain. But Zvada missed his second attempt of the day from 44 yards out as time expired.
It appeared as though Zvada’s misses would bite the Giants, but their defense stepped up to limit a Texans team that had scored 30 points in each of their last two games. Quarterback CJ Stroud, who threw for three touchdowns in a huge game against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week in London, was limited to just 153 yards and two scores.
In overtime, they did not yield a single yard to the Texans on the opening possession, setting up a next-score-wins opportunity. Skattebo and Singletary ensured that the Giants did not have to go back to Zvada, as their two consecutive carries ate up the final 72 yards on their game-winning drive.
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