Keidel: It Hasn't Always Been Pretty, But Giants Keep Finding A Way

By Jason Keidel
» More Columns

Had someone told you in the preseason that after nine games the New York Giants would be outscored by their opponents and have the worst turnover differential of any team in the sport, you would have winced with anxiety.

If you also had heard that in their 10th game they would be losing at halftime at home to the lowly Chicago Bears, who allowed their best running back since Walter Payton to walk away in free agency, and went into the game minus their best wideout due to a PED suspension, and had a quarterback they'd just assume trade for a MetroCard, you would've wanted to dig through your dumpster and then lather your walls with Tom Coughlin posters.

Yet here are the Giants at 7-3 after they inched past the pesky Bears at the Meadowlands on Sunday, 22-16. It's their fifth straight win, their longest streak since October 2010. They've already won more games this year than they did in each of the previous two seasons. And their mark is their best through 10 games since they stormed out 9-1 to begin the 2008 season.

Their 5-1 mark at the Meadowlands is their best since 2012, when they went 6-2 at MetLife Stadium. According to the team's official website, the last time Big Blue won three home games in three consecutive weeks was in 1962.

The Giants did it Sunday largely without Odell Beckham Jr, who produced a paltry 46 yards. They did it with pedestrian numbers all around. No Giants receiver logged more than 50 yards.

But the Giants are doing the one thing that failed them last year and ultimately got Coughlin canned -- winning close games. If you need numbers, the seven victories have been by a total of 27 points, which makes the average winning margin just under four points. Zero turnovers will help. Sunday marked the first time the G-Men didn't fumble or toss an interception in 18 games, which had been the longest such streak in the league.

They also rushed for at least 100 yards for the second consecutive game, which they hadn't done since 2014. The only blight -- if you'd care to call it that -- is the fact that the Giants missed two extra points. But that's part of a league-wide plague, which on Sunday saw the most missed PATs in NFL history (12).

If you're looking for a silver lining on defense, it seems the Giants have a keeper in their secondary. Despite shelling out over $100 million in high-grade free agents this past summer, Landon Collins is slowly rising up the totem pole as their best defensive player. Collins, who was drafted by Big Blue and hence is a much more economic employee, has now picked off a pass in four straight games, a feat that had not been accomplished since Phillippi Sparks (remember him?) did so in 1995.

Big Blue played like the Cleveland Browns in the first half. Yet stormed through the final 30 minutes to save a game they had to win.

Through nine games, the Giants had a woeful 13 sacks. On Sunday, they had four, led by Jason Pierre-Paul, another employee who seemed destined to have a truncated career with Big Blue after literally blowing up his hand. JPP was a menace against the Bears, registering 2 1/2 sacks.

Speaking of the Browns (the only winless team in the league), the Giants may enjoy two Thanksgiving feasts this week -- first on Thursday, then again on Sunday, when they play football's most forlorn franchise, at Cleveland.

Then the schedule becomes as ornery as the weather. Indeed, their final five games come against nothing but playoff contenders that carry a combined record of 31-18. Three of those games will be on the road, including vital contests at divisional foes Philadelphia and Washington.

If the Giants can eke out three wins in those five contests, they will finish the season 10-6. In the turbulent NFC, that should secure a playoff spot. Not the division, of course, as the Dallas Cowboys appear to be moonwalking to the NFC East crown.

But no team has found victory in volatility quite like the Giants. Both times they won the Super Bowl under Coughlin, they were no better than 10-6.

That's not to say this is a Super Bowl team, but once Big Blue gets to the Big Dance, strange things happen.

Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel