{"id":364118,"date":"2026-10-04T12:55:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T12:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364118\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T12:55:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T12:55:22","slug":"its-been-a-whirlwind-giants-season-but-theyre-still-a-winning-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364118\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s been a whirlwind Giants season \u2014 but they&#8217;re still a winning team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Caught your breath yet?<\/p>\n<p>The Giants, really and truly, have been out there just three times. Seems like it is much later in the season than that, does it not?<\/p>\n<p>There was the rousing, almost perfect John Harbaugh head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/09\/14\/sports\/what-we-learned-from-giants-week-1-win-the-most-promising-jaxson-dart-sign\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">debut in Week 1<\/a>, punctuated by a sensational showing by Jaxson Dart in a cathartic prime time victory over the rival Cowboys.<\/p>\n<p>There was the devastating bursting of the balloon seven snaps into what devolved into a decisive Week 2 loss to the Rams out west, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/09\/30\/sports\/jaxson-darts-surgery-did-not-uncover-any-unwanted-surprises\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">with Dart going down<\/a> and out with a knee injury that prompted despair, depression and dread from the fanbase \u2014 and an immediate crisis for Harbaugh two games into his new assignment.<\/p>\n<p>There was the tenuous escape-job (12-7) win over the Titans in Week 3, with safety Jevon Holland <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/10\/03\/sports\/giants-jevon-holland-tells-the-post-how-hes-finally-become-game-changing-ballhawk\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">needing to make an end zone interception<\/a> in the final seconds amid the rain and wind. That prevented what would have been a desultory collapse in a game in which backup-turned-starting quarterback Jameis Winston did nothing to convince anyone the offense is in good hands with him at the controls.<\/p>\n<p>New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh speaks at a press conference at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., Friday, October 2, 2026. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n<p>That the Giants came out of that game losing their best defensive player and unquestioned team leader, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/09\/28\/sports\/brian-burns-feared-to-have-suffered-torn-acl-in-yet-another-massive-giants-crusher\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Brian Burns, to an ACL tear<\/a> almost felt like a piling-on hardship that somewhat got lost in the weeds amid all the tumult. The next day, J.J. McCarthy, a young, talented quarterback deemed a bust with the Vikings, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/10\/02\/sports\/j-j-mccarthy-ready-for-whats-ahead-of-him-after-giants-trade\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">was acquired in a trade<\/a> and the day after that, fan favorite and faded star Odell Beckham Jr. was released.<\/p>\n<p>It has been a whirlwind of highs and lows, and injuries and roster gymnastics, and an overwhelming sense that the Giants are barely hanging on.<\/p>\n<p>And there is also this:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think everybody knows that even though we\u2019re 2-1, we leave a lot of stuff out there on the field that we can take back and one play will make something better,\u2019\u2019 wide receiver Malik Nabers said. \u201cBut like you said, we\u2019re talking us being 2-1.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Oh yeah, that.<\/p>\n<p>The Giants lost Jaxson Dart to a season-ending Week 2 injury. Charles Wenzelberg\/New York Post<\/p>\n<p>Is anyone talking about the Giants being 2-1?<\/p>\n<p>They are tied with the Eagles for first place in the NFC East, and on Sunday will look to win their first three home games for the first time since 2009. <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/10\/02\/sports\/giants-looking-close-to-full-strength-for-week-4-against-cardinals\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">That will happen if they beat the Cardinals <\/a>(1-2) as the softer portion of the Giants\u2019 schedule continues.<\/p>\n<p>The Giants at the moment are a winning team with an unsettled vibe to them. They have not scored a touchdown on offense in eight consecutive quarters and have a paltry total of one sack on defense in three games.<\/p>\n<p>It was fitting that Harbaugh this past Wednesday, noting the change in the weather after the nor\u2019easter finally drifted away, mentioned what he called \u201ca great song\u2019\u2019 from one of his favorite groups, the Beatles. \u201cHere Comes the Sun,\u2019\u2019 Harbaugh said. \u201cWho remembers that song?\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh, left, and quarterback J.J. McCarthy, right, during football practice, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. Noah K. Murray for NY Post<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, it feels like years since it\u2019s been here, and longer than that for the smiles returning to the faces of those whose emotional well-being rises and falls by how their Giants fare each week. Dart\u2019s injury sent a sickly injection through the bloodstream, but he had his knee surgery, is on the mend and will return in 2027. Any \u201cJaxson makes that throw\u2019\u2019 or \u201cDart runs for that first down\u2019\u2019 comments might as well be put on mute. It is Winston for now and, if he falters, McCarthy after that. The Giants are underdogs \u2026 at home \u2026 against the rebuilding Cardinals. Let that sink in, as far as outside perception.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we\u2019re more focused on not leaving those plays out there, scoring more points,\u2019\u2019 Nabers said. \u201cAnd we feel like some teams can\u2019t keep up with us, and we should be able to extend the lead and show that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome losses and some wins look like that. This past win looked like that. Ended the game off with 12 points and not scoring. So, I think that we are more focusing on doing that, making everything look clean instead of just taking a lousy win, but we\u2019ll take it.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Caught your breath yet? The Giants, really and truly, have been out there just three times. Seems like&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[835,9,2683,11,10,22,319],"class_list":["post-364118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-giants","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}