The Giants are an average 5-5 heading into their bye week, yet they are in first place in the NFC East. So does it feel like the Giants are mediocre or division leaders?
“I feel like a first-place team because that’s where we are,’’ general manager Jerry Reese said Monday in his first public comments since training camp. “The division is going to come down to a couple games at the end probably, and we want to be one of the teams in the conversation at the end.’’
Reese spoke the day after his team went toe-to-toe with the undefeated Patriots, losing 27-26 in the final second on a 54-yard field goal. The mood in the locker room was subdued and somber, but a day later, there was a feeling that if the Giants can harness what they did in nearly toppling the Patriots, they can make a run in the final six games.
“If New England is the best team in the National Football League, which a lot of people think they are, obviously we played them to the wire, we felt like if they’re the best team, we feel like we can compete with anybody,’’ Reese said.
Tom Coughlin sent the Giants away for the week — they do not have to be back at the team facility until next Monday — and made sure to remind his players where they stand in the NFC East.
“At this point and time, we do lead the division,’’ Coughlin said. “That’s what we’ve always talked about is the most direct line to where you want to go is right through the division. There’s so much, there’s so much incentive here for our team that I can’t possibly imagine not grasping this opportunity and going with it.’’
What is difficult for all involved to fathom is why the Giants cannot close out games. They’ve lost four of them by a combined nine points and for the first time in franchise history they have lost four games in which they led in the last two minutes in the fourth quarter. That is one off the NFL single-season record for late-game losses, by the 2000 Chargers, since the statistic was first tabulated in 1983.
“We’ve got some battle scars, obviously, from the first 10 games and hoping to make us battle-hardened and be a benefit for us going down the stretch,’’ Reese said.
The roster Reese put together, certainly on defense, looked lacking, especially after Jason Pierre-Paul suffered permanent damage to his right hand in a July 4 fireworks accident. The lack of elite talent played a part in the late-game fadeouts.
“You can blame it on all of us, I think everybody can take some blame in this situation,’’ Reese said. “I can take some blame, the coaches can take some blame, the players can take some blame about where we are. But again, we’re in first place. We’ve got six games to go and we’re going to try and win them all.’’