New York Giants: Is the NFC East Title out of Reach?

The New York Giants entered the 2021 season with playoff hopes, but now are just hoping to start the campaign at 1-3. New York fell to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, thanks to a last-second field goal by Younghoe Koo. The G-Men are now 0-3. Injuries certainly played a factor on Sunday afternoon.

Sterling Shepard (hamstring), Darius Slayton (hamstring), and Blake Martinez (knee) all exited the game with injuries. The bottom line, though, is that the Giants have lost in back-to-back weeks when they had chances to win both games. Now, they’re staring 0-4 in the face with their upcoming matchup against the New Orleans Saints coming up next week.

Schedule of Death

The Atlanta game felt like a must-win due to the team’s difficult schedule coming up. Here are the Giants’ next seven games (all times listed in EST):

Giants at Saints- October 3, 1:00 pm

Giants at Cowboys- October 10, 4:25 pm

Rams at Giants- October 17, 1 pm

Panthers at Giants- October 24, 1 pm

Giants at Chiefs- November 1, 8:15 pm

Raiders at Giants- November 7, 1 pm

Giants at Buccaneers- November 22, 8:15 pm

That is a ridiculously tough schedule. Injuries can happen and certain teams can implode. But right now, the Giants’ playoff hopes look slim based on their 0-3 start and the fact that they’re facing good teams for the next seven weeks. If pessimistic New York fans are eyeballing this stretch of games in particular, the argument can be made that this team we’ll finish the year 1-16.

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The Saints will be playing their first game at home after Hurricane Ida. The Cowboys have played two solid games against the Los Angeles Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Los Angeles Rams are one of the favorites in the NFC with Matthew Stafford under center. Carolina is 3-0 to start the year. The Chiefs are the most talented team in the AFC. Derek Carr is playing like an MVP candidate. Finally, Tampa Bay has the greatest quarterback to ever play. Let’s say the Giants surprise the football world and go 4-3 during this stretch. They would still be 4-7, which would probably put them in third or fourth place in the division. Dallas surely isn’t going to be 4-7 through 10 weeks.

Cowboys Schedule Isn’t as Tough

While New York has a tough road ahead of them, Dallas’ isn’t as difficult. They play the Eagles tonight at home. Then, they play these teams over the course of the next seven games (all times listed in EST):

Panthers at Cowboys- October 3, 1 pm

Giants at Cowboys- October 10, 4:25 pm

Cowboys at Patriots- October 17, 4:25 pm

Cowboys at Vikings- October 31, 8:20 pm

Broncos at Cowboys- November 7, 1 pm

Falcons at Cowboys- November 14, 1 pm

Cowboys at Chiefs- November 21, 4:25 pm

The Cowboys still play some tough teams like the Panthers and Chiefs. However, they don’t have to play the Saints and Rams over the next seven weeks like New York does. The Patriots have a losing record. Minnesota already is dealing with injury issues with Dalvin Cook. Atlanta doesn’t scare any team, except the Giants evidently.

Over Dallas’ next seven games (not including tonight), they realistically could go 5-2. That would give Dallas a 7-3 record, assuming they beat Philadelphia on Monday Night Football. New York could almost have an opposite record at that time. The Giants are going to need wins now, despite playing tough teams because they’ve wasted the opportunity to start out their season on a winning note. It will undoubtedly be an uphill climb.