The New York Giants came out of the bye-week break on Sunday and beat the Houston Texans 24-16, improving their record to 7-2, their best start since opening 8-1 in 2008.

They relied on Saquon Barkley’s massive legs and Daniel Jones’ increasing maturity. They played defense aggressively and often effectively. There were moments when you wondered if the offense could get anything accomplished and other moments when you could envision a bad loss brewing.

The Giants were in control almost all afternoon down on the field but rarely completely in control on the scoreboard at MetLife Stadium.

This is a new team and this is a new season, and the Giants opened up the second half the way they moved through the first half of their season. They did enough to win, beating the lowly Texans, disposing of an inferior opponent uneasily and yet effectively.

Barkley carried the ball a career-high 35 times to amass 152 yards with a touchdown, as the Giants pounded away at the NFL’s bottom-ranked run defense. Jones was accurate (13 of 17) with the few passes he attempted and tossed touchdowns to tight end Lawrence Cager and wide receiver Darius Slayton.

Despite their strong start, there were still questions regarding the legitimacy of Robert Saleh’s New York Jets team entering Sunday’s game against the Bills. Those questions may be gone now, as the Jets posted a 20-17 win over visiting Buffalo to post the franchise’s biggest win in a dozen years.

Two interceptions of Josh Allen loomed large in Sunday’s outcome. The picks overshadowed Allen’s two touchdown runs as Buffalo was unable to hold its early 14-3 lead. The Jets’ comeback was spearheaded by an opportunistic defense, an effective running game and the clutch play of quarterback Zach Wilson, who had arguably his best game since coming to the Big Apple. 

Wilson’s go-ahead touchdown, a 7-yard pass to James Robinson late in the third quarter, occurred after Sauce Gardner recorded the Jets’ second pick of Allen, who was sacked five times by the Jets’ aggressive defense. Wilson then turned to running backs Robinson and Michael Carter on the Jets’ game-winning drive after the Bills had briefly tied the score. 

Bryce Huff’s strip sack of Allen essentially ended the Bills’ hopes of pulling off a last-second comeback on their final drive. The win moves the Jets to 6-3, while the Bills fell to 6-2.

The Houston Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1, in Game 6 of the 2022 World Series to clinch their second Major League Baseball championship in franchise history.

The Astros rallied back from a 1-0 deficit in the sixth inning after Yordan Álvarez hit a three-run home run to score Jose Altuve and Carlos Peńa.

Alex Bregman — who initially got on base with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch — scored on a Christian Vázquez single later in the inning.

Starting pitcher Framber Valdez pitched 6.0 innings and recorded nine strikeouts, two hits and one earned run, which came on a solo home run by Kyle Schwarber in the top half of the sixth, prior to the Astros rally.

Relievers Hector Neris, Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly each pitched one scoreless full inning to end the game to clinch Houston’s second championship in five seasons.

The Astros won three consecutive games to clinch the series, having fallen behind 2-1 in the first three games, which included splitting wins in the first two games at Minute Maid Stadium and a loss in their first road game at Citizens Bank Park.

The Astros then defeated the Phillies in the final two games played in Philadelphia before clinching at their home stadium on Saturday night.