EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Minutes after he and the New York Giants won last weekend, Cam Skattebo was quick to point out that they were not expected to — at least by oddsmakers.
“We were underdogs,” Skattebo said. “It’s dumb. It’s dumb to be underdogs at home, especially when you’re a good football team.”
The Giants are a first-place football team, atop the NFC East for the first time in more than a decade and 3-1 for the first time since 2022. Next
up is a road game at 1-3 Washington on Sunday, when they again are not favored to win, and players are using that slight to fuel them.
“If you have too much, if you’re not humble, you will get humbled,” cornerback Greg Newsome said. “We’re underdogs every week, so that’s enough humbling for us.”
This is the fourth time in five games that New York is the underdog, thanks in large part to the Commanders likely getting franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels back from injury and the advantage that comes from playing at home.
The Giants were not afforded that edge as a favorite in their season opener against Dallas, which they won 28-20, or this past Sunday against Arizona, when they got another late stand to defeat the Cardinals. In between, they got clobbered 28-6 at the Los Angeles Rams when QB Jaxson Dart was injured early and replaced by backup Jameis Winston, who then managed an ugly 12-7 victory over Tennessee.
Dart had surgery on his left knee, linebacker Brian Burns tore the ACL in his right knee and a team losing arguably its most important players both on offense and defense for the rest of the season usually does not have high hopes. In spite of the Giants' record, sportsbooks are still betting against New York making the playoffs.
“We don’t really care what the outside world believes,” Newsome said. “We know what we have on this team. We know what we’re all about.”
Looking ahead, the schedule is favorable. New Orleans visits in Week 6, followed by a trip to face winless Houston before the bye week.
“So far, we’re doing pretty good,” edge rusher Abdul Carter said Wednesday. “We’re first in the division. That’s good, but we know what we’ve got to do. We’ve got this feeling of winning, and what that feels like and how everything can set up after that. We just got to keep going.”
History is a cautionary tale. The last time the Giants had sole possession of first place in their division was November 2015 at 5-5, and they finished 6-10.
“We’re in good position for four games in, but it’s only four games in,” coach John Harbaugh said, eager for his players to stay even-keeled. “We can play so much better. We can play so much better, and that’s what we’ll be chasing.”
Asked if a team with this record can still think like an underdog, Newsome said: “3-1 can easily turn into 3-14.
“For sure you can play with an underdog mentality,” he said. “We’re going to carry it the entire way."
Malik Nabers' 112 yards receiving against Arizona were more than he had in the first three games of the season combined, as he works back to his old self following a torn ACL in his right knee. But he didn't want to call that a breakout performance, and it's unclear if New York's No. 1 receiver will play against Washington.
“We’ll see how the next day goes,” said Nabers, who did not participate in practice Wednesday because of what was listed as a knee injury. “Through the week, I’ll usually be sore, but this one is kind of a little bit more sore. I’ll always continue to fight through it.”
Nabers had five caches for 84 yards in the first half last weekend. After halftime, Winston targeted him just three times and Nabers had two catches for 38 yards.
That is why Nabers said he was demonstrative toward the sideline during the game.
“I felt like I didn’t get targeted much after halftime," Nabers said. “I felt like creating (long completions) down the field was just helping us get in better position to score touchdowns, and some of those plays didn’t come my way, so I was just trying to figure out why.”
Harbaugh and Nabers both said the two spoke afterward.
“I talked to him just about trying to clarify I think we need to implement more things after halftime and also trying to get me the ball down the field to create some of those opportunities for us to gain more points,” Nabers said. “I feel like during the first half when we did that, it kind of led into the right direction of scoring touchdowns in the red zone, and after that we just couldn’t get going. I feel like the offense needed a spark, and I wanted to be that spark, so I was just trying to figure out what was going on.”
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