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Giants hope to avoid letdown against Texans

Nov 2, 2006 - 4:35 PM Houston (2-5) at NY Giants (5-2) Sunday 1:00 pm EST

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) - The New York Giants will hear all about a showdown against the Chicago Bears on November 12. But before then, they have to avoid a trap game.

Winners of four straight, the Giants host the Houston Texans in an interconference game on Sunday.

Not many prognosticators will give the Texans a chance to win, considering they enter Giants Stadium with an 11-game road losing streak.

And with the Bears, who remain one of two unbeaten teams in the NFL, arriving here next week for a prime time contest, the Giants may look past Houston.

New York appears to have too many weapons on offense for the Texans to handle. And the Giants' defense has raised its level of play over the last two weeks.

On October 23 at Dallas, the Giants recorded six sacks, four interceptions, including one for a touchdown, and a safety in the win at Dallas.

Last week, the Giants limited the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to 10 first downs and 174 total yards in a 17-3 victory.

Mathias Kiwanuka, the team's first-round pick, filled in for injured starter Osi Umenyiora (hip) at right end and had six tackles and a sack.

Michael Strahan, New York's perennial Pro Bowl end, is the NFL's active sack leader with 132 1/2 and remains tied with Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor for the franchise lead.

David Carr will have to worry about Strahan and Kiwanuka on Sunday. Last week, Carr was sacked four times and committed three turnovers - two fumbles and an interception - in the Texans' 28-22 loss at Tennessee.

Texans coach Gary Kubiak benched Carr, the AFC's fourth highest-rated passer with a quarterback rating of 94.3, in favor of Sage Rosenfels in the second half. The move appeared questionable at the time, but Rosenfels threw three touchdown passes in the final 17 minutes.

Rookie tight end Owen Daniels caught two of those scoring passes and finished with nine receptions for 99 yards.

However, Kubiak made it clear that Carr remains the starter. Carr has completed more than 70 percent of his passes (136-of-193) for 1,330 yards and nine touchdowns with five interceptions.

"David is our starter, but he will need to be better at protecting the ball," Kubiak said.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft, Carr has especially clicked with Andre Johnson, who leads the league with 56 catches for 669 yards and four touchdowns. He had just 63 receptions for 688 yards and two scores last season.

Rookie Wali Lundy solidified his status as the team's top back, rushing for 116 yards on 18 carries in the loss at Tennessee.

Former Giant Ron Dayne was signed by Houston in the preseason after being cut by Denver, but has not made much of an impact with the Texans. He rushed for 16 yards on five carries and caught two passes for 17 yards in the loss at Tennessee.

The Texans yielded 148 rushing yards last week and will face Tiki Barber on Sunday. Barber, who was the runnerup for the rushing title last season, leads the league with 715 rushing yards.

In New York's eighth game of the season, Eli Manning will duel a No. 1 overall pick at quarterback for the fourth time. The first three were his older brother Peyton Manning, Michael Vick and Drew Bledsoe.

The No. 1 overall pick in 2004, Eli Manning has passed for 1,672 yards and 14 touchdowns with eight interceptions.

Kris Brown kicked a 50-yard field goal with 6:57 remaining to lift the Texans to a 16-14 victory over the Giants in November 2002 - Houston's first season in the NFL.