PHILADELPHIA — Coming off their bye week, the New York Giants entered the stretch holding an unexpected 1.5-game lead in the NFC East. At the time, the division looked wide open.
Not quite.
“I never viewed it as wide open,’’ right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor told The Post then. “I believe it belongs to us. If we keep doing our job week after week, we’ll see how things unfold, but we’re in first place for a reason—we earned it. I think we’re finally figuring out who we are, how good we can be, and just how great we might become.’’
Week 8 played out exactly as the Giants had hoped. Dallas blew a lead and fell to Arizona in overtime. Philadelphia’s collapse continued with a loss to Washington in a matchup between the division’s bottom two. As the Giants (4-2-1) enjoyed their bye to rest and nurse their injuries, they strengthened their grip on first place.
This week, they have a chance to create even more separation. Sunday’s matchup against the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field—a venue long considered a house of horrors for New York—looms large. There’s also a short turnaround for Thursday night’s rematch with Washington at MetLife Stadium; the teams tied in their first meeting a month ago in Landover, Md.
“We’re not looking past Sunday,’’ guard Jon Runyan Jr. told The Post. “This is a critical stretch of our season, with two division games that could carry major implications down the road.’’
Coach John Harbaugh didn’t print “2-0’’ shirts for the upcoming challenge, but he said after the overtime win over Houston, “The two biggest games of our season come after the bye. They’ll set the tone for everything that follows.’’
Historically, this matchup served as a measuring stick for the Giants, and they usually came up short—underscoring the gap between the two franchises. Now, the dynamic has completely flipped.
New York sits atop the division, while Philadelphia (2-6) rests at the bottom, mired in a six-game losing streak and without starting quarterback Jalen Hurts for the rest of the season. The Eagles are turning to Joe Milton III for his first NFL start, and talk in Philadelphia has turned to rebuilding and possible regime change—the same kind of discord New York endured for much of the last decade.
The Giants are actually favored in a stadium where they haven’t won since 2013—a 13-game losing streak at Lincoln Financial Field. That streak predates Harbaugh and has nothing to do with J.J. McCarthy, who is looking to build on his impressive starting debut for New York two weeks ago in Houston. McCarthy will likely be without top running back Cam Skattebo (doubtful with a strained hamstring), and with Tyrone Tracy Jr. on injured reserve, the Giants will roll out a patchwork backfield.
Still, New York keeps finding ways to win, which can breed confidence—and sometimes, complacency.
“Our leaders have addressed that with the team,’’ Harbaugh said. “We’re nowhere near complacent yet. We’re still fighting for our lives. We have everything to gain, and we know how important this game is. We know who we’re playing. We’ll be ready.
“In this league, you can’t even entertain the idea for one second that something won’t be a challenge, or that complacency might creep in, or that anything would be guaranteed. If you’re the right kind of team, your response is simple: ‘Really? Is that what we’re thinking?’ Shame on us if we ever thought that way—but we’re not.’’
The Eagles are dealing with injuries, but the Giants aren’t interested in sympathy.
“We’ve got players down, too,’’ cornerback Greg Newsome II said. “We lost our starting quarterback early. We lost our best defensive player, Brian Burns, early. Obviously, we lost Tremaine [Edmunds]. Our job is to fight complacency, and I believe we have the right people to handle it.’’