5 Reasons the Giants Can Still Win the NFC East

Were this any other year, the 2-7 New York Giants wouldn't sniff a sentence that contains the phrase "division title."

Yet 2020 hasn't exactly been normal in plenty of ways, and the Giants are only one win behind the 3-4-1 Philadelphia Eagles, who are perched atop the putrid NFC East.

Make no mistake, the Giants are a mess and the two wins came against struggling Washington. The rebuild around first-year head coach Joe Judge is just getting started, key players such as Saquon Barkley are injured, and the verdict remains out on potential franchise passer Daniel Jones.

But given the circumstances, it's not too outlandish to think the Giants could pull off a fitting storyline by stealing the division. Here's how that could happen.

The Giants picked up their second win of the season in Week 9, taking down the homestanding Washington Football Team 23-20.

In the first half, New York flashed a team starting to put it all together. The offense was competent, gaining 244 yards, and the defense showed some bite with three takeaways.

Granted, the Giants proceeded to nearly blow a 20-3 advantage. But they held on, so that goes in the encouraging column too.

Point is, that was the first complete game the Giants have played this season. Jones threw for 212 yards and a score, the ground game rattled off 166 yards and a score on 4.7 yards per carry, and the defense picked off three passes—by Blake Martinez, Jabrill Peppers and Logan Ryan—and forced two fumbles by Ryan and Cam Brown.

With a Week 11 bye coming up, New York will have a chance to dive into the film on that half and pair its learnings with some of the following to potentially finish the season strong.

It's the little things.

Notably, Jones didn't commit a turnover against Washington—just the second time in 22 games he hasn't coughed the ball up in some fashion.

Was it a fluke or the beginning of something great?

Washington had picked off eight passes and drummed up 22 sacks entering Week 9, so it's not like the opposition was incompetent. The Giants appeared to keep things safe for Jones. He was sacked five times, but it shouldn't come as a shock that he excelled with a clean pocket, posting the third-best rating among all quarterbacks before Monday at Pro Football Focus with an 85.8.

Jones has won just a single game against a non-Washington team to start his career. He's 5-16. But if the staff can tap in to the plan that helped him be so effective Sunday, it could be a sign of things to come.

The theme "if the coaching staff can take the good and make it work" has started to emerge, so let's fully pull it into the spotlight.

Against Washington, Judge and Co. were more than willing to tinker with the line in front of Jones. It was a follow up to brief experimentation in the prior weeks along the line, plus just generally getting younger guys some more playing time. 

According to ESPN's Jordan Raanan, third-round pick Matt Peart played 24 snaps, spelling Cameron Fleming at right tackle and even No. 4 pick Andrew Thomas at left tackle. He was on the field during the fourth quarter when it mattered most and was one of seven linemen to break into the rotation.

This is something a team far out of the hunt might do while planning for the future. But if it's producing results on the field and keeping the squad in the divisional race too, it deserves praise.

Jones was sacked those five times against a strong rush, but he didn't turn the ball over—and the Giants won.

Peart's emergence was hardly the only example of an unknown player who helped make a difference.

At wideout, with Golden Tate suspended and others failing to prove reliable this season, undrafted free agent Austin Mack stepped into the fold in Week 9 and led the team with four catches for 72 yards.

He has played just four games, but Mack has recorded the longest reception by a Giant this season at 50 yards. He's third in yards per reception with 14.6, though he has just five catches.

With Tate all but irrelevant (22 catches, 226 yards and two touchdowns), there's an opening for Mack to help propel Jones and the offense. Sterling Shepard still appears to have some upside, but 2017 first-round tight end Evan Engram has caught just 36 of his 64 targets. 

But the greater development is that players such as Peart and Mack are emerging during a culture change. If Judge can unearth more guys who will produce on a weekly basis, the NFC East will be ripe for the taking.

The Giants' chances are only made possible by the NFC East.

The Eagles are the best team. But they're sitting on a minus-19 point differential, and there's no guarantee the return of injured players can help salvage Carson Wentz, owner of a 58.4 completion percentage with 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

The Dallas Cowboys are also 2-7. Dak Prescott is injured, and a roster purge is underway with the defense on a historic pace, hence the minus-86 point differential. Washington is 2-6 with no direction at quarterback as the rebuild by Ron Rivera is in its infancy.

Which isn't to say the Giants are much better. But they're believing. Just ask Leonard Williams.

"Everything right there in front of us still," he said, according to Ralph Vacchiano of SNY. "Guys are not putting their head down. You can really feel the energy. ... It just seems like everyone's on top of their s--t right now."

Granted, New York has lost eight straight to Philadelphia and seven straight to Dallas. But on paper, the schedule is child's play: games against the Eagles (they lost 22-21 in Week 7), Cowboys (they lost 37-34 in Week 5), 2-5-1 Cincinnati Bengals, 5-3 Arizona Cardinals (who have benefited from the league's easiest schedule) and 5-3 Cleveland Browns (who have dropped two of three by 10 or more points).

A good team isn't going to win the NFC East this year, and it might even be a team with a losing record. The Giants seem to have their sights set on the open door, though we'll find out in a hurry if they can capitalize on these reasons thanks to the Week 10 showdown with the NFC East-leading Eagles before a bye.