JJ McCarthy Faces Texans in Crucial New York Giants Test

Rare for me to get caught up in a moment, but I certainly did last week. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, how well J.J. McCarthy played for the New York Giants. And the odds makers are telling us it was a mirage because the Texans are 10 to 10 and a half point favorites this week against New York. McCarthy, to me, was a big eye opener. He made every throw. I mean, these were not easy throws that he made. He almost made one at the end of the game. But Houston right now, Joe, they look like they're on a mission. Houston looks like one of the hottest teams in the NFL uh they're playing fantastic football they just beat Jacksonville they won the week before and and boy like it like this number to me is so peculiar because i i want to believe what i saw i i think that trade that the Giants made may end up helping them a lot maybe they could you know take McCarthy move him for a two or or three or get something even back further but was it a mirage i i don't know i i can't believe that it was that's how good he looked to me he looked like he did at Michigan again and i'm like wait a second here this is exactly what i thought he would do for Minnesota so i'm not going to touch this one because the line is just telling me that i what i saw was fugazi so i'm gonna stay away from it but i i but but i really loved watching McCarthy play late in that game last week i i i thought that was great it was incredibly entertaining and so many narratives to him and maybe just the hardballs are the only ones who really speak fluent J.J. McCarthy maybe him and his brother are The only two guys that kind of get the best out of J.J. McCarthy, it seems like that. It was a tremendous comeback. And I think at a certain point in that game, the Saints, who we talked about being kind of desperate for a win, always bet on teams that are desperate for wins. Well, the Giants really came back and the Saints had to throw a bunch of starters back into that game they thought was well in hand because McCarthy kept putting up points. Fascinating narratives here. Can J.J. McCarthy sustain what we saw on any level in the second half of that game? Will Cam Akers, who it seems to be back to him in the backfield because they benched him to send a message. No more backflips, no more social media stuff. Just stick to football, kid, because we need you to figure things out or we're going to replace you. That's a giant message sent, and they dropped Najee Harris after all that. We're going to have an open competition. Well, it seems like that competition closed a little bit because now you've got Tyrone Tracy and Cam Akers, and Tyrone Tracy fumbles more than Akers. So you've got to go back to Akers, see what you've got here. What do you have in McCarthy? I will say this. These are two teams that do struggle against tight ends. Foster Moreau, especially, has been a guy that keeps on catching touchdowns. He's plus 500 to catch touchdowns. Isaiah Likely plus 250. I think those guys both have big touchdown equity in this game. You can SGP that if you want. Even if McCarthy comes out with a loss here, if he looks good doing it, I think you got to be very encouraged if you're the Giants. And I think you can potentially in this division that is so weak with so many injuries, so many issues, get to the playoffs or even win this division with JJ McCarthy. If he competes in this one, I still like the Texans in this contest. It's hard not to. CJ Stroud's been terrific. You got Tank Dell back in this game too, Jalen Nailor played great football, I love Nico Collins over in 68 and a half receiving yards I think it's a mismatch there for the Giants secondary that's not very good so a lot of props in this game I would bet the Giants to cover because it's such a big number at the 10 and a half but still I think the Texans are in a pole position in this game where it's never in doubt that they're going to win I do think the Giants can keep it at least tight enough in that double digits to your point right houston's got to start playing better on defense too you don't go from the best in the NFL to 26th so quickly so boy i really want to want to believe in the giants here but you know we'll see after this week i think we'll absolutely get a better indication on McCarthy