Dominic Zvada’s run at Giants scoring history got a quick reset in Week 6, and the rookie kicker wasted no time getting back on track.
After a rough Week 5 against the Washington Commanders, when he missed three field goals, Zvada responded with a clean outing in Sunday’s 34-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints. He drilled kicks from 34 and 41 yards and added his lone extra point, giving him seven more points toward his chase of New York’s rookie scoring record.
The 22-year-old undrafted kicker is still squarely in the mix for two franchise marks: Ali Haji-Sheikh’s rookie record of 127 points set in 1983 and Jay Feely’s single-season standard of 148 points from 2005.
Through six games, Zvada has 48 points, which puts him five ahead of Haji-Sheikh’s rookie pace and five behind Feely’s all-time mark. He’s also already ahead of both kickers in field goals made at this stage, with 13 made kicks after only six games.
Here’s how the three seasons stack up through Week 6:
Kicker
Season
Points through Week 6
FGs through Week 6
XPs through Week 6
Final points
Jay Feely
2005
53
11
20
148
Ali Haji-Sheikh
1983
43
11
10
127
Dominic Zvada
2026
48
13
9
136 pace
Zvada has gone 13-for-16 on field goals and is a perfect 9-for-9 on extra points. That Week 5 miss-fest in Washington was ugly, but it hasn’t knocked him off the pace by much.
Now comes a road test in Houston against the 2-4 Texans, who have won two straight after opening 0-4. Their defense hasn’t matched last year’s dominant version, but with Big Blue’s running game stalled and head coach John Harbaugh still sorting out the quarterback situation, special teams could end up carrying more weight than usual.
Houston has also been kind to opposing kickers this season. Through six games, kickers against the Texans have totaled 53 points, which works out to 8.83 per week. If Zvada hits that average Sunday, he’d be around 57 points heading into the Giants’ Week 8 bye.
The Giants would love a win before the break, and with so many questions on offense, a heavy dose of Zvada could be a path worth embracing. A strong afternoon would only sharpen his pursuit of franchise kicking history.
In Other News...
Malik Nabers Is Giving Giants Fans A Familiar Superstar Feeling
After a slower opening to the season, Malik Nabers has spent the past three weeks looking every bit like the kind of receiver who can bend an offense around him. He has hauled in 42 of 47 targets for 398 yards and two touchdowns in that span, and his third straight game with more than 100 receiving yards has only added to the sense that the Giants may already have something special on their hands.
The timing matters, too, with the Giants still not naming a Week 7 starting quarterback. Nabers recent surge has mostly come with Jameis Winston throwing him the ball, a reminder that his production has traveled well regardless of the uncertainty around the position. For a player still on his rookie deal and eligible for an extension after the season, this is the kind of stretch that changes the conversation quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Face A QB Decision That Could Change This Next Stretch
The Giants are weighing a quarterback change at a time when the margin for error is getting thin, and the choice could shape the next stretch of their season. Jameis Winston has handled the job since Daniel Jones went down, but J.J. McCarthy has made enough of an impression in limited action to put real pressure on the staff to think about a different direction.
McCarthys appeal is easy to see for a team looking for any spark it can find, especially with the deep passing element he flashed and the possibility that his style could help the run game as well. For now, the debate is less about what Winston has done than about whether the Giants want to stay the course or make a switch before the next important games on the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Suddenly Need Paulson Adebo Sooner Than Expected
The Giants secondary is suddenly in a bind, and the timing could hardly be worse with Houston on deck. New York is already thin at corner after a pair of injuries pushed the group into an even tougher spot, while a safety is also working through a neck issue, leaving the defense short on experienced options where it can least afford to be vulnerable.
That urgency puts Paulson Adebo back into the conversation sooner than the Giants likely expected. Their highest-paid cornerback has been sidelined by a knee injury, but his return window is now open, and the team has to weigh whether the moment is right to activate him and throw him into a game that already comes with plenty of pressure on the back end. [Read more 🡒]