The New York Giants (3-2-1) head down to Texas to face the suddenly hot Houston Texans (2-4) on Sunday afternoon at Reliant Stadium.
Here are five storylines to follow in Week 7.
A change under center
The Giants signed Jameis Winston to be their primary backup, not their long-term starter. They worked all offseason on an offense tailored to Jaxson Dart's skill set. When he got hurt in the second week of the season and Winston came in, they had to retrofit their offensive strategy to Winston's game.
J.J. McCarthy is seen as "Dart-lite," a player who can best run the offense the team built for Dart. After McCarthy's explosive performance last week, head coach John Harbaugh decided to make the switch.
"What gives us the best chance to be our best? Gives us the best chance to play
the best offense we can," Harbaugh said on Wednesday, "and I thought Jameis has done a tremendous job. Won us games, played well. But as we go forward here, this is going to be our direction, and we think it gives us some good options on offense."
The two-headed monster
Wide receiver Malik Nabers and tight end Isaiah Likely have been a two-man gang the past three weeks, drawing a combined 78 targets, resulting in 63 receptions for 657 yards and five touchdowns.
The duo will probably be at it again in this game since the Texans have not been very good against the pass this season, ranking 27th overall.
Per Sharp Football, they have allowed 24 pass plays of 20 or more yards, the second-most in the league.
Shoring things up on defense
The Giants are ranked 14th overall on defense -- fifth against the pass, and 29th against the run -- but their run defense has been the worst in the league the past three weeks, allowing over 166 yards per game.
The Texans are averaging just 84.8 yards per game on the ground (25th) and could be without top back David Montgomery again.
This is an opportunity for the Giants to win up front, but containing the Texans through the air won't be as easy.
Houston, behind quarterback C.J. Stroud, has a top vertical passing game with 25 pass plays of 20 or more yards, tying them with Buffalo for the most in the NFL this season.
No more three yards and a cloud of dust
The Giants are averaging just 3.8 yards per attempt on the ground this year. Not exactly the plan they had heading into the season. None of their backs have stepped up and wrested the lead role, which has led to a "by committee" approach.
Ball security has been an issue, and not having Dart to run the RPO has led to a stale, predictable rushing game that has been easily slowed and stopped.
Having cut Najee Harris this week clears the way for more opportunities for the others, and McCarthy's presence should open up even more.
Cleaning things up
The Giants have been in some wild games this year, with tons of ebbs and flows. They have a turnover differential of -2, with 11 giveaways and nine takeaways. They average nearly two giveaways per game. That has to end.
They have been flagged for penalties 53 times, 11th most in the league. 46 have been accepted. They've been lucky, however, and their opponents have 47 accepted flags.
24 of the flags thrown against Big Blue have been pre-snap violations. This is another area that needs to be tidied up.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants vs. Houston Texans: 5 storylines to watch in Week 7
