Daniel Jones throws two INTs vs. Texans as Giants’ first-team offense plays entire half

HOUSTON — Daniel Jones returned. Malik Nabers played. But Saturday’s scoreboard still looked frustratingly familiar as the second quarter began:

Zero points.

Zero points for the New York Giants.

Two Jones interceptions, including a Jalen Pitre pick-six. And it would have been three interceptions if Jones’ first pass of the game to Nabers hadn’t slipped through Derek Stingley Jr.’s hands, preceding a first drive three-and-out.

Brian Daboll then left all of his offensive starters except center John Michael Schmitz in for the entire first half — even though Texans coach DeMeco Ryans pulled his starting defense after three drives.

Even though Ryan pulled Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud after two drives. Even though Daboll pulled many of his defensive starters with 10:25 minutes left in the second quarter.

Daboll, the Giants’ full-time offensive play-caller, then finished the first half running a hurry-up, no-huddle drive with Jones and the first-team offense against the Texans’ backups. And they managed a Graham Gano field goal to draw within 14-10 at half.

Jones did lead a touchdown drive on his first possession against Houston’s reserves, delivering a 44-yard strike to Darius Slayton over Texans corner Mike Ford down the left sideline to set up a Devin Singletary 1-yard TD run at 10:31 of the second quarter.

But Jones was only 2-of-6 passing for 18 yards and two interceptions during his three drives against Houston’s top defense, and Singletary carried 10 times for just 20 yards as the Giants’ leading rusher.

The silver lining is that Jones was healthy enough to play his first game since tearing the ACL in his right knee on Nov. 5, 2023, in Las Vegas. And Nabers, who had sustained a left ankle sprain in last Sunday’s practice, made four catches for 54 yards after dropping his second target from Jones on a nice deep ball the rookie should have hauled in.

Jones finished with a stat line of 11-of-18 passing for 138 yards and the two turnovers.

On defense, Dexter Lawrence also batted down a Stroud 4th-and-goal pass to keep the Texans out of the end zone after a long opening drive to start the game, jumpstarted by a 24-yard completion to Texans wideout Nico Collins against Giants top corner Deonte Banks.

The Texans clearly went for that fourth down unconcerned about what the Giants would do with the ball if they failed, though. And their strategy was proven prescient.

After a 2-yard Singletary run, Jones held the ball in the end zone looking for a throw. Texans pass rusher Derek Barnett got free from tight end Chris Manhertz and hit Jones, and the Giants’ quarterback forced an ill-advised pass outside left to rookie tight end Theo Johnson.

Pitre easily made the interception and walked into the end zone for a 7-0 Texans lead with 7:24 to play in the first quarter.

Jones and the offense moved the ball a little bit on the next drive. Nabers made his first catch as a Giant with 5:08 remaining in the first quarter, a 14-yard reception on the left sideline. He held on despite a hit from Texans safety Jimmie Ward.

But after a 12-yard Jones scramble and a Singletary 2-yard run for a first down, Stingley picked off Jones down the right sideline on a pass intended for Jalin Hyatt.

A defensive stop then created a short field for Jones and the first-team offense to score their first touchdown against Houston’s backups.

The 7-7 tie didn’t last long, however.

Backup quarterback Case Keenum led the Texans’ second-string offense on a 12-play, 79-yard touchdown drive against mostly Giants defensive backups – with only a couple starters mixed in, including linebacker Bobby Okereke.

Keenum hit John Metchie for a 3-yard pass with Isaiah Simmons covering him man-to-man as the slot corner. That put Houston up 14-7 with 3:48 left in the first half until the Giants’ late field goal.

Jones’ end-of-half drive ideally will be helpful from a confidence standpoint. He completed 6-of-9 passes for 68 yards to three different receivers: three to Nabers, two to Slayton and one to Robinson. They overcame an illegal formation penalty on Nabers.

This dress rehearsal for the Giants’ regular season starters did not answer many questions, though. If anything, it reinforced that their old problems might continue to be their same problems.

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