The New York Giants are going into their bye week with momentum on their side after defeating the Houston Texans in overtime in Week 7.
If the playoffs started today, the Giants would be the No. 3 seed as NFC East champions. There are 10 games to play and a lot that can happen, but isn’t it nice to be considering playoffs instead of the draft at the end of October?
Here’s a look at the NFC playoff picture after the late slate of games on Sunday in Week 7.
NFC playoff standings
1. Minnesota Vikings (6-0) 2. San Francisco
49ers (6-1) 3. New York Giants (4-2-1) 4. Carolina Panthers (3-3) 5. Chicago Bears (5-2) 6. Detroit Lions (4-2) 7. Green Bay Packers (4-3, 3-3 NFC) 8. Seattle Seahawks (4-3, 1-2 NFC) 9. Atlanta Falcons (3-4, 3-2 NFC) 10. Los Angeles Rams (3-4, 2-2 NFC) 11. Philadelphia Eagles (2-4) – Monday Night Football 12. Dallas Cowboys (2-4) – Monday Night Football 13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-5, 1-0 NFCS) 14. New Orleans Saints (2-5, 0-1 NFCS, 1-3 NFC) 15. Arizona Cardinals (2-5, 1-4 NFC) 16. Washington Commanders (1-4-1)
NFC East standings
1. New York Giants (4-2-1, 1-0-1 NFCE)
2. Philadelphia Eagles (2-4, 1-0 NFCE) – Monday Night Football
3. Dallas Cowboys (2-4, 1-1 NFCE) – Monday Night Football
4. Washington Commanders (1-4-1, 0-2-1 NFCE)
Assuming the game between the Eagles and Cowboys on Monday Night Football ends in a win for one team, the Giants will be 1.5 games ahead of the second-place team going into the bye week. That’s a great place to be going into the bye week.
“It’s a massive energy shot in the arm. It’s a reward,” Giants head coach John Harbaugh said of being in first place at the bye week. “Now, you’ve got to make something of it. It doesn’t mean anything if you don’t build on it, right? But it means something, but it doesn’t mean we’re going to win a championship yet. It means we have an opportunity, though.”
The Giants are going to enjoy their bye week and rest up because, when they return, they will have an opportunity to extend their lead in the NFC East with a pair of divisional games against the Eagles and Commanders.
“We have an opportunity to get ready for the next two games starting with Philadelphia, and then a quick turnaround, so we’ll be thinking about two games as a coaching staff over the bye week. The two most important games of the season will be coming up after we come back from the bye, which will set the direction for the rest of the season really,” Harbaugh said.
“But we’re going to be in this thing until the end now. This was a pivotal game. This was a really high-pressure game for our team. We didn’t talk about that, but they all knew how important this game was, and they responded accordingly.”
