Can these Giants actually make a run at the NFC East title? Give it three more weeks to see
Giants wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr., left, and Sterling Shepard talk on the sideline during a game against Tampa Bay at MetLife Stadium on Nov. 18, 2018. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Odell Beckham Jr. was the one to make news with his post-bye pronouncement that the Giants could run the table in the season’s second half.
As it turns out, he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. “That’s the mindset of everybody in the room,” receiver Sterling Shepard said Monday. “He just came out and said it.”
Beckham raised eyebrows and stoked plenty of skepticism among even the most ardent Giants fans when he spoke openly about winning eight in a row after the Giants came back from their bye week at 1-7 and seemingly out of the NFC East race. But those inside the locker room apparently shared his feelings, even if they chose not to articulate it.
No one else has been willing to talk openly about winning out and having a shot at making the playoffs, but Beckham’s bold statement has resonated among his teammates. After back-to-back wins over the 49ers and Buccaneers, the Giants find themselves three games behind first-place Washington with six games to play.
The Redskins (6-4) are without starting quarterback Alex Smith, who suffered a gruesome leg injury in Sunday’s loss to the Texans, as they prepare for a Thanksgiving showdown against the Cowboys (5-5) in Dallas. The Eagles (4-6), coming off a thrashing in New Orleans, are only one game ahead of the Giants.
Playoffs? Is there legitimate hope for the Giants? Or is it just wishful thinking?
Give it three weeks. At Philadelphia. Home vs. the Bears. At Washington. Then we’ll have a better answer about whether they can make a run at the divisional title or are delusional.
Therein lies the key to whether the stretch run will include the Giants as a contender or whether they’re pretenders after enjoying what amounts to a sugar high after wins over the 49ers (2-8) and Bucs (3-7).
Come out of the next stretch of NFC games — including two divisional matchups — at 3-0, and then this will continue to be more interesting by the day. Even winning two out of three could keep the Giants competitive, especially if the race tightens because of the Redskins’ quarterback situation. Go 1-2 or 0-3, and it will be over.
Coach Pat Shurmur embraces the notion that there’s still a chance, and he appreciates that his players did not fold after going into the bye at 1-7. This team hasn’t quit, nor has it fractured from within. And winning two games in a row for the first time since late in 2016 has added self respect.
“I feel like we go into every game like we’re going to try to win it, and I feel like we can win it if we play well,” Shurmur said. “I’m looking forward to Philadelphia. They took it to us the first game, and we did some things in that game that you can’t do if you want to win.”
The 34-13 loss to the Eagles on Oct. 11 was the only real clunker of the season for the Giants, who were thrashed at home by the defending Super Bowl champions despite a brilliant individual performance by running back Saquon Barkley. With a chance for retribution on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, the Giants face an Eagles team decimated by injuries, especially on defense, and coming off a 48-7 loss to the Saints in New Orleans.
“They’re a good team,” Shurmur said. “They certainly have had their struggles of late, they’ve got injuries, but I’m looking forward to playing them.”
“We have to focus on doing whatever it takes, whether it’s by 40 [points] or three or one,” Barkley said. “Whatever it takes to come out of Philadelphia with a win. They got us earlier in the season, so we’ve got to get ’em back.”
A win over the Eagles would put both teams at 4-7, and they’d either be two or three games off the divisional lead based on the Redskins-Cowboys result. With the Giants facing Washington and Dallas again, their fate is at least somewhat in their own hands.
All they ask for is a chance. They have earned that much, but the margin for error remains razor-thin.
Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”
