Giants Focused on Improving First, Not Winning Division
The NFC East standings aren't a pretty picture, but for the Giants, the picture is one they can look toward with some tempered optimism after their 27-17 win against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
The Eagles still sit in first place at 3-5-1, but the Giants are right behind them in second place at 3-7 with seven weeks left in the season.
The Giants and the Eagles both have tough schedules ahead of them as they will face many of the same top-tier opponents, including the Browns, Cardinals, Seahawks, and Cowboys.
However, the Eagles' schedule also features the Saints and Packers, while the Giants still have the Bengals and Ravens on tap, teams the Eagles tied and lost too, respectively.
If how the two teams played on Sunday is any indication, it's not impossible to think the Giants have a real chance at stealing the NFC East from the Eagles when they return from their Week 11 bye.
A lot has to go right for the Giants to ascend to the division crown, especially with Washington and Dallas still in the hunt. Still, one way or another, the Giants will play meaningful football in the home stretch of the season for the first time since 2016.
Head coach Joe Judge has kept the team playing like it's playing meaningful football regardless over the last few weeks, as the team has defied a wave of adversity, stringing together wins to get back into the race.
But for Judge, the division race is not a big point of discussion or motivation in team meetings, and his team is focused on preparing to face the Cincinnati Bengals when they come back from their bye week.
"To me, the importance just needs to be improving as a team," Judge said. "All of that other stuff will take care of itself.
"We got to get ready to prove ourselves internally and then turn the page and move on to Cincinnatti and get ready for a tough game out there. We got a tough stretch of games coming up, we can't go ahead and start looking at rankings and division races and all that While type of stuff. We just have to focus on getting better each week and that's what will help us in the long run."
If Judge and the Giants do take care of business and come up with a win against the 2-6-1 Bengals and the Eagles lose their next two games to the Browns and Seahawks, then the Giants will be in first place by the end of Week 12 and in the driver's seat to win the division.
At that point, the reality of possibly clinching the organization's first division title since 2011 will be nearly impossible to ignore, especially externally.
While that in itself is encouraging, Giants head coach Joe Judge would prefer to put any talk about winning the division on hold in favor of talk of making continued forward strides in improving.
But even Judge admitted that the carrot that is the NFC East title could potentially serve as additional motivation for some players to push themselves even harder.
"Motivation to me is an individual thing," Judge said. "But as long as you're working for something and collectively raising the team, then that's a positive thing.
"It's professional football. I don't care if one guy is working for a paycheck or another guy is working for a championship. If both guys come out and give them their best every day then that's going to make the team better."
One of the reasons the Giants players have remained tuned in to Judge's program despite the team's record is the improvement they see and the realization that they're better than their record indicates.
"We're taking steps. We still have a long way to go, but we're taking steps," said safety Jabrill Peppers after Sunday's win over the Eagles.
"I definitely feel like we're a better team today than we were three weeks ago. ... You just build off that, man, and keep executing by getting one percent better day in and day out."
The last time the Giants won the NFC East title, they did so with a 9-7 record. At 3-7, everything would have to go right for them to match that record, but they might not even need a winning record this year.
Two teams in NFL history have won their respective division with losing records. The 7-9 Seattle Seahawks in 2010 in the first year of Pete Carrol's tenure as head coach and the 7-8-1 Carolina Panthers in 2014 under former head coach Ron Rivera.
Both teams would springboard from those division titles to Super Bowl berths and multiple playoff appearances.
Are Judge's Giants next in line to make that long-term turnaround?
"Whatever motivates these guys, that's great. My job as a head coach is to make sure they understand the big-picture goal, and right now to me that's improving on a daily basis and getting to be the best football team we can be at the end of the season."
