EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Rashad Jennings rushed for a career-high 176 yards on 34 carries and the New York Giants beat the Houston Texans 30-17 at MetLife Stadium for their first victory of the season.

New York had multiple mistakes in the first half, many by a beleaguered special teams unit, but the Texans had three turnovers and failed to generate consistent offense without starting running back Arian Foster, who did not play.

Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who hadn’t been sacked or thrown an interception in two games as Houston’s starter, converted only two of the team’s 12 third-down attempts, threw three interceptions and was sacked twice.

Eli Manning did not turn the ball over for the Giants, completing 21 of 28 passes for 234 yards with two touchdowns. A potential third score was botched by tight end Larry Donnell’s red-zone fumble.

One backbreaker for Fitzpatrick in the first half, was a pick by safety Antrel Rolle on a 3rd-and-19 at the Texans’ 27-yard line at the two-minute warning.

That set up the Giants’ second scoring drive of the game, a 1-yard touchdown run by Jennings that gave New York a 14-0 lead.

The Texans scored 10 unanswered points in the third quarter to make it interesting courtesy of a 27-yard field goal by Randy Bullock and a 44-yard touchdown reception by receiver Damaris Johnson on the ensuing drive to make it 17-10 Giants.

The momentum swung back to the Giants when head coach Tom Coughlin challenged a scramble by the Texans on third down that was ruled a first down. The replay showed that Fitzpatrick was one yard short.

On the ensuing punt, Damontre Moore managed to get a piece of Shane Lechler’s punt to set New York up with the ball on the Texans’ 29-yard line. Three plays later, Manning connected with tight end Daniel Fells on a 9-yard touchdown reception.

What the Texans said:

“If you play bad football in this league, you’re going to get beat.” — Defensive end J.J. Watt

What the Giants said:

“What went well and what went exceptional in my opinion is that everyone stuck to (the game plan). Everyone was where they were supposed to be and it made the game plan seem even better–just 11 guys out there doing their job and sticking to their job.” -– linebacker Jameel McClain

What we learned about the Texans:

1. The Texans’ offense is one-dimensional. Thanks to a running game, the Texans were able to control the clock and make the plays necessary to win their first two games. With starting running back Arian Foster on the shelf this week due to a hamstring issue, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was forced to do much more than just manage the game. He couldn’t come through, throwing three interceptions, and averaging 8.5 yards per pass attempt.

2. For as good as the Texans have been dodging turnovers, they were simply unable to overcome the mistakes. Houston is now 4-27 (.148) in games in which their turnover ratio is minus-2.

–QB Ryan Fitzpatrick became the first Texans signal caller to pass for more than 200 yards against the Giants. Fitzpatrick finished with 289 yards, 250 of which came in the second half. Fitzpatrick, who had a 0.8 passer rating as of halftime, finished with a 59.6 mark after finishing the first two weeks of the season with passer ratings of 109.3 and 129.1 respectively.

–LB Brian Cushing, originally from Park Ride, N.J., finished as the Texans’ leader in tackles with 17. That was the highest single total by a Texans defender in a game this year.

–P Shane Lechler had a fourth-quarter punt blocked by Damontre Moore of the Giants. That was the first time the Texans had a blocked punt in a regular-season game since Dec. 29, 2002 when Tennessee’s Rocky Boiman blocked Chad Stanley’s punt.

What we learned about the Giants:

1. Tom Coughlin still has it. He might be 68 years old and firmly set in his ways, but credit the Giants head coach for listening to his players and loosening up the reins a bit this week in practice. Several players praised Coughlin for allowing them to play a selection of rap and hip-hop music during Friday’s practice, which in turn helped them stay lose and have fun in their final preparations.

2. The Special teams still are bad. Although the Giants’ special teams unit didn’t’ cost them the game this week, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The biggest mistakes made by the Giants’ specialists this weekend included falling asleep on a fourth-and-one fake punt which the Texans converted into a first down; a poor snap from long snapper Zak DeOssie on the Giants’ first field goal attempt of the game, and a holding call that wiped out a decent gain on a punt return by Preston Parker in the second half.

–QB Eli Manning completed his first interception-free game since Nov. 24, 2013, a game that the Giants lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 24-21.

Manning, who began the 2014 season with four interceptions, also completed 75 percent of his pass attempts, his best single regular-season game showing since Week 13 of last season, when, in a game at Washington, he completed 28 of 32 passes for 235 yards.

–WR Victor Cruz’s 26-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter was his first score in 12 games and his first touchdown reception at home since Dec. 30, 2012.

Cruz, whose 2014 season started out the 2014 bumpy, also caught 83.3% of his pass targets this week for a team-leading 107 yards. It was his first game with at least 100 receiving yards since Week 11 of last season when the Giants hosted Green Bay.

–RB Rashad Jennings’ 176 rushing yards were the most by a Giants running back in a regular-season game since Andre Brown ran for 127 yards in Week 12 (against Dallas) last season.