Giants Trying to Save Season vs. Texans

Texans @ Giants 
1:00 p.m. CBS 

For the second consecutive year the Giants open the season at 0-2, and for the second consecutive season everyone thinks the Giants are on the brink of watching their season fall apart before the month of October.

The Giants didn't look good last week against Arizona. Penalties on defense and mistakes on special teams cost the Giants dearly turning a 14-10 lead into a 25-14 loss last week. Now the Giants have to win against the Texans (2-0) or the calls for Tom Coughlin's head will only get louder, if they are not loud enough already.

Key Match-up: Giants offense against Texans defense. The Giants are ranked 30th in the NFL in total offense. While Eli Manning played better last week, he still has to get on the same page with his receivers, who have let him down with way too many drops. When Larry Donnell, the Giants back-up tight end is leading the team in receiving, you know things are not good for Big Blue. Not to mention, the Giants have to get their running game going, and that starts up front with an offensive line that is still struggling to gel as a unit.

This could get ugly, because the Texans have a lot of talent of the defensive side of the ball. Led by all pro DE, J.J. Watt, the Texans could get a lot of pressure on Manning if his offensive line falters in this game. So if the Giants offense is going to gel, now would be a great time for that to happen.

If Manning gets the time he deserves in the pocket, the veteran quarterback will make big plays in this game, and the Giants could be in line for win number 1.

Don't overlook Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. It was easy to write off the Texans this year as a team that would improve, but not enough to be a serious threat in the AFC because of Fitzpatrick. He has proven to be more of a back-up quarterback in his career than anything else. Yet, this Texans team has more talent for Fitzpatrick to work with than he did in stops at Buffalo and Tennessee. The Texans still have a dynamic receiver in Andre Jonson, and a top back in Arian Foster. In fact Foster has already ran for 241 yards, 4.4 yards per carry.

What to expect: I said it last week and was dead wrong, so for the last time I will go on the line and say the Giants are going to come out on fire in this game. I am not saying they will light up the scoreboard, but I expect the Giants to put forth a determined effort on Sunday against Houston. The Texans will put up points, but if the Giants don't turn it over they will have a great chance in this one.

Prediction: Giants 24, Texans 20: The Giants are going to get off the schnide, and win a game, finally. Eli Manning is going to play extremely well and will carry the Giants on his shoulders in this one. Expect touchdown catches for both Victor Cruz and maybe Ruben Randel. The Texans will have a chance late, but Fitzpatrick will revert to old form and turn it over in a crucial moment.