Giants Down Texans 24-16, Move to 7-2

It wasn't pretty, in fact, at times it was downright ugly, but the Giants found a way to hold off the Houston Texans 24-16, Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium to move to 7-2 on the season, keeping pace with both Dallas and Philadelphia in the NFC East.

The G-Men were powered by another monster afternoon by running back Saquon Barkley who churned out 152 yards on 35 carries, including a two-yard score that gave New York a 21-10 lead in the third quarter.

Darius Slayton's 54-yard touchdown down the sideline proved to be a back-breaker as it gave New York the 14-3 lead right out of the gate to open the third quarter.

Still it wasn't easy.

The Texans hung around pretty much all afternoon against New York.

After Barkley's touchdown run gave the Giants a 21-10 lead, Davis Mills drove the Texans the length of the field to the New York 10-yard line. It appeared that the Texans would be primed for a touchdown, but Dameon Pierce fumbled the football forward when Leonard Williams tackled him. Giants rookie linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux recovered it for Big Blue.

After the Giants went three-and-out on their ensuing possession, the Texans -- again -- had a chance to cut deep into the Giants lead when Mills connected with Brandin Cooks on a 19-yard touchdown pass. However the TD was nullified by a holding call on Houston. On the next play, Mills was picked off by rookie safety Dane Belton, who was playing for the injured Xavier McKinney.

Houston would never get a better opportunity the rest of the day as the Giants held on for the win.

Daniel Jones was solid once against for the Giants, completing 13-of-17 for 197 yards and two touchdowns.

The Giants (7-2) host the lowly Detroit Lions at MetLife next Sunday.