It’s time to start taking the New York Giants seriously as the favorite to win the NFC East.

The Giants beat the Houston Texans by winning a game they weren’t supposed to win. Meanwhile, the rest of the NFC East looks like a mess, which gives New York a real path to a division title.

The NFC East is there for the taking

Take a look around the division. The Philadelphia Eagles are decimated by injuries. Quarterback Jalen Hurts is done for the year. The Dallas Cowboys’ defense is awful. The Washington Commanders keep making easy things look incredibly hard.

Every other team in the NFC East has a glaring flaw. The Giants have found a way to stack wins anyway despite everyone expecting them to lose.

For me, this game against Houston was the barometer for how good the Giants could be the rest of the year. Their remaining schedule is brutal. The Texans were also one of the hottest teams in football over the past two weeks. If New York could hang with them, it could hang with anybody.

Giants out-physicaled the Texans

The Giants didn’t play scared against a team with one of the NFL’s hottest quarterbacks and the league’s best pass rush. They didn’t shrink. Instead, they stepped up and out-physicaled the Texans.

The most important aspect of this win was the ground game. New York ran for 188 yards, and it leaned on that rushing attack down the stretch. Running back Cam Skattebo started to break free as the game wore on, and Devin Singletary punched in the game-winning touchdown.

The Giants kept running the ball well even after Tyrone Tracy Jr. went down with an apparent hamstring injury. Losing a running back mid-game usually throws an offense off schedule. Instead, the rest of the backfield picked up the slack and kept wearing down a Houston defense built to get after the quarterback.

Running the ball that well against a defense with this much talent up front shows a team that knows exactly who it is. It also takes pressure off the quarterback, which matters given the pass rush the Giants faced.

J.J. McCarthy deserves credit

We have to give credit where it’s deserved. J.J. McCarthy completed 20-of-28 passes for 252 yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass, but his efficiency, consistency, and willingness to push the ball downfield helped the Giants win.

McCarthy didn’t need to be a hero against Houston. He needed to keep the offense on schedule, avoid disaster, and take his shots when they were there. He did all three.

However, I’m not ready to go crazy about McCarthy’s future in New York. I still think it’s Jaxson Dart’s job.

If McCarthy keeps playing well, the smartest move is to use him as a trade chip. A team that desperately needs a young quarterback could be willing to pay up for someone who has proven he can win games and protect the football. That’s a far better outcome for the Giants than letting a quarterback controversy take over the locker room.

The Giants are building something real

Getting this level of play from McCarthy sets up the Giants to make a serious run at the division. A strong running game, an efficient quarterback, and a division full of flawed teams is a recipe for a surprise season.

The Giants won’t be favored in many of their remaining games. They weren’t favored against the Texans either, and they won by imposing their will in the trenches.

Hopefully, the Giants keep running the ball with this kind of physicality, because if they do, the NFC East crown is very much within reach.