Not too early for Giants fans to think playoffs
Adoree' Jackson and Oshane Ximines of the Giants react after a defensive play against the Texans at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
After years of dealing with the bitter taste of playoff-less seasons, you’ll have to forgive Giants fans if they can taste the postseason after only nine games.
The Giants have won seven of them and, after outclassing Houston on Sunday, have another winnable home game this Sunday against 3-6 Detroit.
Is it too early to look at the standings? For the players and coaches, it is. But for anyone who roots for the Giants, it is not.
So let’s look: If the season ended today, the Giants would be the top NFC wild-card team and would open the playoffs against Tom Brady and the Bucs in Tampa. The Bucs are leading the NFL South at 5-5.
Sure, the Giants have a better record than the Brady Bunch, but they would be the road team because the Eagles — even after losing to the Commanders, 32-21, on Monday night — are atop the NFC East at 8-1.
The Giants have two games left with the Eagles, on Dec. 11 at MetLife Stadium and the regular-season finale on Jan. 8 in Philadelphia.
The Giants also have four more what you’d have to call “winnable games” on their remaining schedule, including Sunday’s against Detroit. They have two games against Washington (5-5) and a home game against the Colts (4-5-1).
Visits to Dallas on Thanksgiving and at Minnesota on Christmas Eve should be tougher matchups for the Giants. But it’s easy to imagine their first trip to the postseason since 2016 theoretically taking place with a division crown, a home playoff game and maybe even a first-round bye.
Hey, it’s OK for fans to dream. It’s coach Brian Daboll’s job to not get ahead of himself, and he’s doing that job as well as he is coaching wins and losses in his rookie season.
“I know it’s boring,” Daboll said on Monday about not thinking about the playoffs. “But that’s the truth.”
Daboll said he may have been guilty of looking ahead when he was a young coach. Now?
“No. Again, it’s fairly easy not to let that happen,” he said. “Maybe when I was younger starting out in this league, in 2000, 2001 . . . When you’re younger a little bit and just starting out, I think maybe you think about things like that.
“Now it’s the God’s honest truth, you just worry about the next day, the meeting we were just having, practice . . . We have to focus and stay in the moment because it really doesn’t matter. There’re so much games to be played and it’s good to be 7-2, but again, it will humble you really quick when you start worrying about the wrong things or thinking about the wrong things, to me, in this business.”
Daniel Jones, who threw only 17 passes but had the highest QB rating of his career (153.3) on Sunday, was asked about the possibility of his first trip to the playoffs.
“I think we’re confident,” he said. “I think we’re a confident group. But we’ll continue to focus week to week on what we’ve got to do and try and go 1-0 every week.”
Notes & quotes: Daboll said the Giants came out of Sunday’s game with no new injuries. “I think we’re in pretty good shape after that game,” he said. “We’ll see on Wednesday, but I think it [the injury report] will be probably a little bit similar to what it was last week. [Tight end Daniel] Bellinger’s making progress. Evan [Neal] is making progress. Some bumps and bruises here and there, but really fairly healthy.” . . . The Giants signed defensive lineman Henry Mondeaux off the practice squad and activated cornerback Rodarius Williams from injured reserve. Tackle Devery Hamilton and defensive back Justin Layne were released. The club also terminated the practice squad contract of tackle Will Holden.
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
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