nypost
As the New York Giants entered their bye week, they held a surprising 1.5-game advantage in the NFC East, a division that many considered wide open. Right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, however, saw no such openness. "I don't see it wide open at all," Eluemunor told The Post. "I think it's ours. I think we just keep doing our thing, week in and week out, we'll see what happens this week with these teams, but we're in first place for a reason, because we earned it, and I think we're truly starting to figure out the team we are now and how good we can be and how great we can be possibly."
Week 8 unfolded exactly as the Giants had hoped: the Dallas Cowboys squandered a lead and fell to the Arizona Cardinals in overtime, while the Philadelphia Eagles' struggles continued with a loss to the Washington Commanders in a matchup of the division's bottom dwellers. As the Giants (4-2-1) scattered for a brief respite to rest and recover, their grip on first place only strengthened. Now, they have a chance to put even more distance between themselves and the pack.
Sunday's game at Lincoln Financial Field—a venue that has been a house of horrors for the Giants—offers the first opportunity. A quick turnaround follows with a Thursday night rematch against the Commanders at MetLife Stadium; the teams tied their first meeting a month ago in Landover, Md. "Not to look ahead to the game on Thursday, this is a pivotal part of our season coming up with two division games that can really help us down the road," guard Jon Runyan Jr. told The Post.
Coach John Harbaugh did not print "2-0" shirts to encapsulate the week's task, but after an overtime win over the Texans, he acknowledged the stakes. "The two most important games of the season will be coming up after the bye, which will set the direction for the rest of the season," he said. In years past, this matchup served as a litmus test for the Giants, and they usually failed miserably, underscoring the gap between the two franchises. Now, the tables have turned dramatically.
The Giants sit atop the division while the Eagles (2-6) are at the bottom, mired in a six-game losing streak and without starting quarterback Jalen Hurts for the remainder of the season. Philadelphia is turning to Joe Milton III in his first NFL start, and talk of rebuilding and regime change swirls in Philly—the same discordant noise the Giants endured for the past decade. The Giants are actually favored in a building where they have not won since 2013, having lost 13 straight at the Linc. That streak has no bearing on Harbaugh or J.J. McCarthy, who is looking to build off his impressive Giants starting debut two weeks ago in Houston.
McCarthy likely will be without top running back Cam Skattebo (listed as doubtful with a strained hamstring), and with Tyrone Tracy Jr. on injured reserve, the Giants will deploy a makeshift backfield. Still, they are finding ways to win, which can breed confidence—and sometimes open the door to complacency. "Our leaders have talked to the guys about that," Harbaugh said. "We're not really anywhere close to that yet. We're fighting for our lives, too. We've got everything to gain, and we know how big this game is. We know who we're going against. We'll be ready. In this league, to even think for one second that something's not going to be a challenge or that you might get complacent or that it might not—what would even be on your mind if you thought that? If you're the right kind of team, it's just like, 'Really, you're asking me that?' Shame on us if we would think that way, and we're not thinking that way."
The Eagles are battered with injuries, and the Giants do not care. "I mean, we got players down as well," cornerback Greg Newsome II said. "We lost our starting quarterback early. We lost our best defensive player in Brian Burns early. Obviously, we got Tremaine [Edmunds]. Our job is to fight that complacency, and I think we got the right guys to do it."
Key Analysis
The Giants have a golden opportunity to solidify their NFC East supremacy, but they must guard against overconfidence. With the Eagles reeling and the Commanders looming, New York's ability to maintain focus could determine whether this surprising lead turns into a division title.
Originally reported by nypost.