Inside Slant

The Sports Xchange

October 11, 2018 at 3:02 am.

Giants confident after effort in Sunday loss

The New York Giants loss last week to the Carolina Panthers certainly wasn’t the outcome that the team was hoping for.

But if there is a silver lining to be had in the 33-31 loss to the Panthers, it’s that it has not only galvanized the Giants locker room ahead of their big Thursday night meeting with the Eagles, it’s also proven to the 1-4 Giants team that they indeed have what it takes to stand toe-to-toe with top competition.

“I think that showed what we’re capable of doing,” said running back Saquon Barkley, speaking about an offense that finally scored 30 points for the first time since the final regular-season game of 2015.

Even though the loss dropped the Giants to 1-4 after five games, no one on the team, from head coach Pat Shurmur down to the players and assistant coaches, is ready to throw the towel in just yet.

That’s because if the Giants can eke out a win against their next opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, on Thursday night, they will move up in the NFC East, where right now no one team is running away with the division.

Although the players are coached to live in the movement, everyone is well aware of the ramifications of Thursday’s game and what a win would mean.

“I’ve always said, it’s a long season, and we have an opportunity to come in here in a big, big division game and be able to reshape our season,” said receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

“We know what we have in front of us, short week, just coming off of a tough loss, so we’re all just trying to get our minds wrapped around what the game plan is, how we can come out and beat Philly.”

While most players would normally be upset with the short turnaround, especially coming off such an emotional and hard-fought game the Sunday prior, Beckham has a different perspective.

“This probably would be the first time where I would ever not be upset about the turnaround,” he said.

“Coming off a tough loss like that, you just want to get back out there. When you lose a game like that, it’s like you wish you had five more minutes to play and you’ve got to wait a whole week usually, but we get a quick turnaround this week, we get to go out on Thursday, and I know we’re all excited about that opportunity. We’ve got to come out and make the most of it.”

A win against the Eagles would give both teams a 2-4 record after six games but would also elevate the Giants ahead of the Eagles in the division standings thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker.

“It’s pretty wide open right now,” said tight end Evan Engram, who is hoping to return from a two-week absence due to a sprained MCL. “Thursday is a huge game for us and even the division games after that are huge. Every game is big, but definitely the division is wide open, and we got a full plate ahead of us going forward and it’s starting this Thursday.”

One of Shurmur’s messages to his team this week is that the final won-loss record doesn’t necessarily have to dominate in the standings so long as it gets the team to the postseason.

“I think the last two times that the Giants made the (playoffs), I think they were 9-7, so we’ve just got to keep playing,” Shurmur said.

He expects to see just that from his players, whom he saw show tremendous energy despite the quick turnaround.

He said, “These guys love to play the game, it’s their livelihood, but they certainly play it with great emotion and great passion and they just keep playing. As we get better, I think we played better last week. We need to find 63 more yards somewhere to get the win, but we played better, and we’ve got to continue on that path. Then eventually it will crack.”

SERIES HISTORY: 167th regular-season meeting. Giants lead, 83-81-2. Since 2012, the Eagles have dominated the regular-season series, winning nine of the 12 meetings between the two clubs, and four of the last six games played on the Giants’ home turf.