New York Giants: Why the Giants are still an NFC East Contender

If you ask most people about the New York Giants they will tell you they’re done for and they might as well focus on the draft. I’m here to tell you why they’re still an NFC East contender.

The New York Giants are off to a 1-4 start as they will take on the reigning Super Bowl Champion, Philadelphia Eagles Thursday night in New York.

But why are many already saying that the Giants are out and that they need to focus on the draft?

With a game against the Eagles on Thursday night, the Giants will have a chance to put themselves right in the mix with the rest of the East.

Beating the Eagles would move both the Giants and Eagles to 2-4 while the Cowboys and Redskins will play Sunday.

Sure they’re 1-4, but they are only one game back in the NFC East that has struggled up to this point.

At this moment in time, the NFC East looks like this:

With the Cowboys and Redskins both going up against tough competitors, the Giants have a serious chance to put themselves back into the conversation. Sure the Giants are 1-4 and haven’t looked to great up to date, but they are better than one might think.

In the Giants five games so far, they hold a -24 score differential. They have only lost one game by more than seven points which was when they lost 33-18 against the New Orleans Saints.

The game against the Cowboys, however, felt like much more than seven points as the Giants scored ten of their 13 in garbage time.

This being said, the Giants have been competitive in three of their five games.

In game one against the Jaguars, the entire game can be brought down to one play, and one player. When Eli Manning threw the pick six in week one it was all because of Ereck Flowers.

If Flowers blocks his man then the ball does not get tipped and therefore does not get intercepted and brought back for a Jaguars touchdown.

You take these seven points off then the final score changes from 20-15 in favor of the Jaguars, to 15-13 in favor of the Giants.

Likewise, the game against the Panthers can be brought down to one play. If Odell Beckham Jr. decides to field the punt and signal for a fair catch rather than blocking then the game changes entirely.

If he were to field the punt instead of blocking, the Panthers wouldn’t have jumped on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown, and the Giants would get the ball on the three yard line. If this were the case the final score may have shifted in favor of the Giants.

Two games that boil down to two plays. The Giants are not a bad football team no matter what their record is, they could very well be 3-2 right now, which would put them atop the NFC East.

So before you rush to judgement and say the Giants should be focusing on the 2019 NFL Draft, relax a little bit and look at the facts.