Devin Singletary ran for a 30-yard touchdown in overtime to beat his former team and lift the New York Giants to a 27-21 walkoff victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday — and to give J.J. McCarthy a win in his debut start for New York.
McCarthy completed 20 of 28 passes for 252 yards in his first start as a Giant, his fifth consecutive start overall, and the Giants (4-2-1) stayed in the hunt behind a running game that wore Houston down late.
Cam Skattebo carried 17 times for 124 yards, including a 42-yard run on the play before Singletary's game-winner, and Malik Nabers caught seven passes for 111 yards. Singletary finished with 41 yards and the touchdown on five carries.
A 52-second stunner, then overtime
The Texans (2-5) looked finished before the final minute. C.J. Stroud completed 17 of 28 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns, and his 3-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Hutchinson with 52 seconds left forced overtime and kept Houston alive.
But the Giants answered in the extra period. Skattebo broke off his 42-yarder to set up the winner, and Singletary — facing the team he used to play for — found the end zone from 30 yards out to end it.
Woody Marks had 19 carries for 66 yards for Houston, and tight end Dalton Schultz had five catches for 45 yards. The loss dropped the Texans to 0-4 at home.
Redemption for Skattebo
For Skattebo, Sunday was redemption. A week earlier, under head coach John Harbaugh, he never touched the football — a benching Harbaugh said was not a benching, or a demotion — and the popular running back's absence from the offense was glaring.
On Sunday he was everywhere: 124 yards, a fourth-quarter touchdown on which he broke three tackles, and the overtime run that set up the win.
"Me, Motor, Tyrone Tracy, us three guys, we came together as a team this week, as our own little team," Skattebo said after the game. "We kept each other high. We knew coming into this game that it was going to take all three of us. And it took all three of us."
The Giants are on bye next week. Singletary's winner capped a Sunday in which the other unbeaten team in the league also fell: the San Francisco 49ers lost 29-20 to the Atlanta Falcons, and the Seattle Seahawks beat the previously unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs 20-3 on Sunday night.
Fuentes: Reuters (NFL roundup), NorthJersey.com, FantasyPros, USA Today.