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Giants Show Resilience Again in OT Win, Prove John Harbaugh's Culture Is Working
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- Giants Show Resilience Again in OT Win, Prove John Harbaugh's Culture Is Working
The New York Giants are 4-2-1 and in first place in the NFC East in John Harbaugh's first season as head coach, and it is fair to wonder where the team would be with a lesser coach at the helm.
The Giants' remarkably resilient 2026 season added another check mark Sunday, when they shook off a late Houston touchdown to claim a 27-21 overtime win over the Texans at NRG Stadium.
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The Giants are now the favorites to win the NFC East, going into their Week 8 bye. New York hasn't won the division since 2011.
The Giants Were Resilient Again in OT Win vs. Houston
Harbaugh's message of resilience and not quitting has sunk in, since the players have discussed playing hard for as long as there's still time on the clock. The Giants improved to 3-1-1 in one-score games, a year after going 1-7 in games decided by eight points or fewer.
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Each of their past five games has come down to the final play, including Sunday, and by winning those games, the Giants equaled their 2025 win total (4) with 10 games remaining.
But aside from hanging on to win games they wouldn't have under Brian Daboll, Mike Kafka or anyone else over the past decade, the Giants have overcome season-ending injuries to starters: quarterback Jaxson Dart, edge rushers Brian Burns and Chauncey Golston and middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds .
"I would say just a lot of moments stacked on top of each other because they just didn't bat an eye and they continued to work hard and fight," Harbaugh said. "Every type of situation they met the same way. Maybe it started with Jaxson Dart['s season-ending injury], then it went to the next, the next, the next, to Tremaine Edmunds this week."
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The Giants could have folded when C.J. Stroud found Xavier Hutchinson to tie the score at 21 with 52 seconds in regulation, especially since they elected to kickoff to the Texans after winning the pre-overtime coin toss. But the Giants forced a three-and-out, then took the ball three plays for 81 yards, capped by Devin Singletary's 30-yard game-winning touchdown.
"That's how you build; it's shared experiences," Harbaugh said. "It's fighting through all these things together that draws people close together, and that's how a team is built."
The Giants' QBs Room Is Perfect for This Team
Dart looked like he had mastered offensive coordinator Matt Nagy's offense in his only full game, the Giants' 28-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1.
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But if the Giants are truly going to embody a resilient spirit, the duo of J.J. McCarthy and Jameis Winston is perfect. Winston has been written off multiple times by the league and even the Giants, and the Giants parted with only a fifth-round draft pick for McCarthy.
"He has scars," Harbaugh said of McCarthy. "He's been wounded. He's been broken. He's been battered. But you heal stronger, and you become better because of it."
McCarthy continued his dark horse push for Comeback Player of the Year by going 20 of 28 for 252 yards and not turning the ball over. But after going 2-1-1 in his four starts, Winston again had a hand in helping the Giants win Sunday, plunging in for a 1-yard tush push touchdown in the first half.
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"Jameis came in and did his job," Harbaugh said, "and if he's going to be called upon again at some point, he'll do his job again. But he did his job again this week."
This story was originally published by Athlon on Oct 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
