New York Giants headlines for Monday

Good morning, New York Giants fans!

Giants-Texans ‘things I think’: The only thing pretty about the Giants is their 7-2 record | Big Blue View

The Giants just keep digging deeper ... and deeper ... and deeper into their bench and into the depths of the NFL for players, and they keep finding guys who contribute to winning efforts.

Tight end Lawrence Cager, signed to the practice squad less than a month ago, had his first touchdown catch on Sunday and recovered an onside kick. Wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins, a waiver claim during the bye week, had two receptions for 41 yards and both resulted in first downs.

On defense, the Giants were without safety Xavier McKinney Sunday, and might be without him the rest of the season. No matter, at least on Sunday. Rookie Dane Belton had a huge fourth-quarter interception in the end zone, and Jason Pinnock had 1.5 sacks and a pair of quarterback hits.

More from Big Blue View

• Giants-Texans final score: Giants improve to 7-2 with 24-16 victory
• Giants’ Kenny Golladay frustrated over disappointing season
• 4 downs: Takeaways from the Giants’ 24-16 win over the Texans
• Report: Giants had contract talks with Saquon Barkley
• Big Blue View mailbag: Salary cap, 2022 draft, Wan’Dale Robinson, more
• Giants roster moves: Matt Peart activated from PUP list
• Will Giants make the playoffs? Here’s what Big Blue View writers think

Other Giant observations

5 things we learned in Week 10: DJ highly efficient | Giants.com

Quarterback Daniel Jones attempted just 17 passes on Sunday. However, he completed 13 of those passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns. The passing yardage was the third-highest of the season for the fourth-year quarterback. More impressively, Jones earned an near-perfect 153.3 passer rating against Houston. Not only was this easily his best passer rating of the season, but it also set a new career-high for Jones and the highest passer rating of any quarterback in the NFL this season.

Saquon Barkley on contract: Just focused on the rest of the season

Giants’ Sterling Shepard on Saquon Barkley’s future: ‘He’s got to have that NY on his helmet’ - nj.com

“He’s got to have that NY on his helmet. He has given his all to this organization and been everything that a Giant is supposed to be," Giants receiver Sterling Shepard said. "The way he has been running man -- it’s great to see him back out their feeling healthy and back to doing things that Saquon Barkley does.”

NY Giants' Saquon Barkley, Dexter Lawrence dominate in latest victory | The Record

"I mean, I told Dexter, I've never seen Aaron Donald play in person, but, it's him and him, as far as interior defensive linemen," Giants rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux said of Lawrence. "There's not really much you can do with him. You can put your whole team on him, but then you're gonna have our whole team of guys come free. So, I don't know what I would do if I was an offense. You've got to hope that your guys play up to a guy that great."

Head coach Brian Daboll get’s into his team on the sidelines yesterday

Here’s a look at Giants’ playoff picture after beating inept Houston Texans | nj.com

But with another winnable home game next week against the Lions, the Giants continue to push toward 10 wins, which should be enough for them to earn one of the NFC’s three wild-card spots. And that would be one of the NFL’s most stunning developments in this crazy 2022 season.

After the Lions come the Cowboys on the road, Commanders and Eagles at home, Commanders on the road, Vikings on the road, Colts at home and the Eagles in Philadelphia. At this point of the season, the Cowboys, Eagles and Vikings have winning records.

NFL second-half predictions for all 32 teams | The Athletic

Giants win a wild-card spot and make their first playoff appearance since 2016: It’s not inconceivable we’re looking at an 8-2 Giants squad by Thanksgiving. With the Texans (1-6-1) and Lions (2-6) the next two weeks, the Giants should have it easy. From there, things get tougher, thanks to five games left with their NFC East foes — the Giants still have two against the Eagles (8-0), one more against the Cowboys (6-2) and two against the not-terrible Commanders (4-5). New York also has a tough game with the 7-1 Vikings, but they will get a New Year’s Day date with the Colts, who could be thinking about next year at that point. So, the Giants will finish the season at 11-6, earn a wild-card berth and give the Vikings a run for their money in a playoff trip to Minnesota, before ultimately coming up short.

WR Darius Slayton with his second touchdown of the year

NFL midseason QB EPA rankings: From Tua to Trubisky, who has been most effective? | The Athletic

The Giants quarterback produced three of his best passer rating games in Weeks 5-7 during wins over the Packers, Ravens and Jaguars: 100.2, 112.1, 94.0. He didn’t throw for more than 220 yards in any of those three games, but he protected the football and got the job done. And even with a 94.0 rating against Jacksonville, Jones rushed for 107 yards on 11 carries with one TD. You would think Jones could keep this pace up with games against the Texans and Lions in the next two weeks.

Redrafting the 2022 NFL Draft: Sauce Gardner, Ikem Ekwonu find new homes in the top three | PFF

At the 5th spot, the GIants select a different edge rusher—Travon Walker. With their pick at 7th, PFF has the selection as WR Garrett Wilson

This week’s opponent

Detroit Lions' defense secures the win for second straight week | DetroitLions.com

Two weeks in a row now the Detroit Lions' young defense has made the plays needed at the end of the game to secure the win.

Last week it was thwarting Aaron Rodgers and the Packers' offense on 4th down to turn the ball over and allow quarterback Jared Goff to take a knee and secure a 15-9 win. This week, it was sacking Bears quarterback Justin Fields (Julian Okwara) on 4th and 8 with one minute and 12 seconds left in the game to give the offense back the ball to run out the clock.

4 takeaways from the Lions’ Week 10 victory over the Chicago Bears | Pride Of Detroit

Hutchinson made a handful of huge plays against the Bears on Sunday, but maybe none as impactful as the read on Fields’ screen pass that caused an errant throw resulting in Jeff Okudah’s interception for a touchdown. Against the run, he was a force—including this highlight-reel stop against running back David Montgomery.

BIg second half expected for St. Brown | The Athletic

Amon-Ra St. Brown will top 1,000 yards and 100 receptions: After a hot start out of the gate, an ankle injury and a concussion have limited St. Brown’s snaps and prevented him from taking a true second-year leap. But, now that he’s back and healthy, he could pick up where he left off. St. Brown needs 61 catches for 601 yards over the final nine games to hit both marks. He’s the most reliable target the Lions have right now. T.J. Hockenson is gone; DJ Chark is on IR; Josh Reynolds is dealing with a back injury; D’Andre Swift is on a pitch count. St. Brown has a great rapport with Jared Goff and has proven capable of delivering.

Around the league

Sean McVay: Cooper Kupp’s Ankle Injury “Didn’t Look Good”

Colts Make Jeff Saturday A Winner In Head Coaching Debut

Ex-Giants WR Kadarius Toney breaks out in Chiefs’ win over Jaguars

Odell Beckham Jr. getting closer to picking his new team

BBV mailbag

Have a Giants-related question? E-mail it to [email protected] and it might be featured in our weekly mailbag.

BBV podcast

You can find and subscribe to Big Blue View radio from the show’s home page

BBV social platforms

BBV on Twitter | BBV on Facebook | BBV on Instagram | BBV Radio (available on all of your favorite podcast platforms) | BBV on YouTube