Good morning, New York Giants fans. The bye week gave the Giants a chance to sit in first place and watch the rest of the NFC East do some damage to itself, and now the focus shifts to a stretch that could shape the division race.
The Giants head to Philadelphia this week to face an Eagles team that will be without Jalen Hurts for the rest of the season and has dropped six straight. After that comes a short-week Thursday night home matchup with Washington.
Those are two division games packed into five days, and they give New York a real shot to come out of Week 10 in strong position to chase the crown. The back half of the schedule is no picnic either, with the Jaguars, Colts, 49ers, Seahawks, Browns, Lions, Cowboys and Eagles still ahead.
That’s why the trade chatter around Jonathan Taylor keeps hanging over the Giants. With the NFC East looking shaky, the question has been raised: is this the Giants’ division to lose? Their bye week included a little help from elsewhere, too, as the Cowboys fell 33-30 in overtime to the last-place Cardinals at AT&T Stadium.
Taylor isn’t the only name being floated. Another possibility mentioned is Derrick Henry, who is now 32 and much closer to the end of his career than the beginning.
His contract runs through 2027 and pays $12 million that year, with none of it guaranteed. Through eight games, Henry leads the league with 158 carries, has 632 rushing yards at 4.0 per carry, and has scored eight touchdowns.
With quarterback injuries in Baltimore, the Ravens are expected to draw calls about Henry, and the Giants, given their interest in Taylor, could be among the teams asking.
There was also a league fine tied to a Giants player. Cam Skattebo was the only player among eight fined for illegal use of the helmet in Week 7 who also drew an on-field penalty.
In the Giants’ 27-21 overtime win over the Texans, Skattebo lowered his helmet while running through safety M.J. Stewart in the first quarter.
The hit drew a 15-yard personal foul and erased a seven-yard gain with New York up 7-3. The NFL later fined him $7,073, which was his second fine of the season after receiving the same amount for a similar play against the Titans in Week 3.
As the Giants come out of the bye, the division picture, the trade rumors, and the discipline report all point in the same direction: plenty is still in play.
In Other News...
Giants Trade Buzz Around Ashton Jeanty Comes With One Big Catch
As the trade deadline approaches, Ashton Jeanty has become one of the more intriguing names to watch for a Giants team still sorting through its backfield options. The chatter picked up after his workload dipped in a recent game, and it is easy to see why New York would at least be interested in a player with his talent and upside if the Raiders were ever willing to listen.
The catch is that any serious pursuit would come with a heavy cost, which makes this more of a conversation piece than a likely move right now. The Giants are still weighing other running back possibilities as they look for help before the deadline, and unless the market shifts in a major way, Jeanty feels like the kind of target that sparks buzz without necessarily becoming realistic. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Face A Very Different Eagles Test With NFC East Control At Stake
The Giants come out of their bye week facing a very different kind of Eagles team than the one that has defined this rivalry in recent seasons. Philadelphia has dropped six straight and sits at 2-6, a sharp turn for a roster that still carries plenty of talent but has struggled to find its footing, while New York enters with a 4-2-1 record and a chance to tighten its grip on the NFC East race.
A new-look Philadelphia offense adds another layer to the matchup, and that is where the Giants will have to be especially sharp. With Jalen Hurts unavailable, the Eagles are moving forward with Tanner McKee under center, which changes the way New York has to prepare for a division opponent that is suddenly much harder to project. For a Giants team with control of the standings within reach, the test is less about the familiar name on the jersey and more about how quickly it can adjust to what this version of the Eagles actually is. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Face A Trade Deadline Decision That Suddenly Feels Bigger
The Giants are spending their bye week in a far better spot than anyone might have expected, still sitting atop the NFC East after Dallas fell to Arizona in overtime. Even with the break, the attention around the building has not slowed, because the front office is believed to be looking for ways to shore up weak spots before the trade deadline, especially along the trenches and in the backfield.
That makes the next stretch feel more consequential than a typical midseason pause. New York has a chance to be more than just a division leader in the standings, and the deadline could be the place where it tries to turn that into something sturdier, even if no deal is imminent and nothing has been finalized yet. [Read more 🡒]