The New York Giants begin the stretch run of their 2026 season after enjoying a much-needed bye last Sunday. Head coach John Harbaugh finally got to sit back for a second to enjoy his team being in first place in the NFC East.
"Yesterday, I'm watching games, but I'm watching the Dallas game real closely," Harbaugh told reporters on Monday when discussing how he spent his free day. "And then you do flip, you got those stations now, and you can see four of them, and then you can see which one you want to go to, and that's to commercial, so I'm going back to this one. I was moving all around, man. I was spinning the dial on the games, which was really a lot of fun.
"It was a fun day; I could see why people love watching the NFL. So yeah, I saw that
game too, but it's crazy, man; the NFL is crazy town, like my wife said. It's a lot going on, and next week is a new week for all of us. Next week is the next opportunity, just like the next play is the next opportunity, and that's what you really got to focus on."
Next week, of course, is now this week. The Giants head to Philadelphia Sunday to face the 2-6 Eagles, who have suffered a myriad of misfortunes this season and could be in for a lot more. That can't be any concern of the Giants. They have had their own woes and know they need to take care of business.
"It's really exciting, and we're looking forward to it. A lot of respect for that team, that organization, everything about them," Harbaugh said of the Eagles. "We understand, defending champs in the division, recent world champs, all those kinds of things. We're looking forward to our opportunity."
And what an opportunity it is. A victory would improve the Giants' record to 5-2-1 and 2-0-1 in the division. They will maintain their lead in the NFC East before hosting Washington next week, another huge step toward their first division title in 15 years. They have not gone undefeated in the division since the 1997 season.
But one step at a time. The Giants are slight favorites in this game. It's the first time they've been favored in Philly in 17 years. Times are changing. The Giants appear poised to turn the tables on this rivalry in which they've lost eight of the most recent ten games and three of the last four.
The Giants are staying local the next three games, which, given the constant flow of injuries, is a godsend. After they return from Philadelphia, they'll have little time to prepare for Jayden Daniels and the Commanders, who come into MetLife Stadium four days later to play Big Blue on Thursday Night Football.
"It's a challenge, especially when you're playing just two big games like that," Harbaugh said. "Important games, but they're all important, but division games. We have a schedule for that that we kind of, over the years, kind of developed. We come back in on Monday afternoon, and we have what we call an ACT practice. That's what we practice, and then we get right to it.
"Then we have more of an up-tempo practice on Tuesday, more of a mental practice on Wednesday, walkthrough, then Wednesday again and maybe Thursday morning, and then we play. So, you really try to condense the week into really what ends up being three and a half days, three days of prep. So, it's all hands on deck to try to prepare for the game."
The Giants will then stay local for the next 10 days when the AFC South-leading Jacksonville Jaguars come to town. The Giants can't really plan too far past that. The NFL, as Harbaugh's wife said, is "crazy town" this year, and teams have to plan week-to-week, which is the Harbaugh way, anyway.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants taking week-to-week approach towards NFC East title
