Bye-ing time
Giants hit break still in hunt in surprisingly tough division
As eager as the Giants were for this week’s bye, the break is also bittersweet thanks to an NFC East race that remains much more competitive than anyone predicted.
Despite winning their past two games to improve to 4-3, Big Blue still find themselves tied with the Redskins for last place in the division and could fall two full games behind the Cowboys if Dallas can fend off the rival Eagles at home on Sunday night.
No wonder cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and other Giants sounded a tad ambivalent Tuesday about the timing of the bye after last week’s 17-10 win over the Rams in London.
“It’s kind of yes and no,” Rodgers-Cromartie said when asked at the final team gathering of the week if the bye could stall the Giants’ momentum. “It’s always good to rest the body and get guys back.
“But when you’re [riding] the momentum like this, on the high and playing really well, you just want to stay out there and keep playing.”
The Giants’ struggling offense could definitely use the time to regroup. Coach Ben McAdoo said as much Monday, telling reporters on a conference call that “everything is on the table” this week when he and his assistants look for ways to get the league’s 25th- ranked scoring attack going.
McAdoo also appeared to have the surprising intensity of the division in mind when he made the Giants watch film of their first opponent after the bye — the Eagles — before they were allowed to start their mini-vacations.
The players, though, didn’t seem to be in panic mode even with the rest of the division playing better than expected and the East race looking like it will be a dogfight to the very end.
“I think it’s a great time to get away,” Eli Manning said Tuesday. “Get your mind away, rest your body and get healthy. Make sure you come back refreshed and finish this season strong. Make sure we’re going forward and getting better these next few weeks.”
Asked if he even looks at the division standings, wide receiver Victor Cruz smiled and shook his head.
“No, I don’t,” Cruz said. “All I know is that we’re 4-3 and on a two-game win streak and want to continue going up.”
Even tied for last, the Giants have reason to feel good about their position and the schedule in the short-term. That’s because their first three games out of the bye — against Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Chicago — are all at MetLife Stadium, followed immediately by the winless Browns in Cleveland.
Throw in the fact that the Cowboys’ only loss was to the Giants on opening day, and Big Blue’s chances of snapping their fouryear playoff drought are still very much alive.
“I feel like the division is like this every year,” Cruz said. “I feel like it always comes down to those final two months of the season, almost the final month, almost the final game of the year to decide who’s going to win this division. We just got to understand that we need to keep pushing the envelope. Continue to be 1-0 each week and that’s what we strive for and then we’ll take it from there.”