5 Potential Trap Games on New York Giants' 2015 Schedule

Wins will be precious for the New York Giants in 2015, coming off of a 6-10 season.

For the Giants to return to the playoffs, they must avoid letdown performances. That will be tough to do with trap games littering the schedule.

Trap games tend to pop up when attention is diverted. Sometimes, a tough game precedes the trap, leaving a team battered before taking on an inferior opponent. Other times, a team's focus is beyond the trap, making it particularly susceptible to an unexpected defeat.

Five games stand out on the Giants' schedule for the 2015 season as trap games. Although New York has a chance to win the five games highlighted in this article, it's worth considering all circumstances when looking ahead to these matchups.

Week 2, Sept. 20: Vs. Atlanta Falcons

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The Giants have been slow starters the last two seasons, so the team's first trap game of 2015 could come as soon as the second week, when the Atlanta Falcons visit MetLife Stadium.

After an 0-2 start last year (and an 0-6 start the year before that), the Giants aim to avoid a familiar hole by starting the 2015 season with a win. New York will have to travel to Dallas and take down the reigning NFC East champion Cowboys on Sunday Night Football in order to jump out to a 1-0 start this September.

The Giants haven't won a season opener since 2010. A win over the Cowboys in Week 1 would send them into the Falcons game on a high. That's a dangerous place to be against a team with something to prove.

Last year, the Giants and Falcons met in Week 5. That game, too, was played at MetLife Stadium. New York won, 30-20, moving to 3-2 on the season. The win marked the first and only time Big Blue has been above .500 since the conclusion of the 2012 season.

The Giants collapsed after that game, and the Falcons weren't any better. Both teams finished the 2015 season with a 6-10 record. Adding insult to Atlanta's injury, the franchise was fined $350,000 and lost a 2016 fifth-round draft pick for pumping in crowd noise through the Georgia Dome sound system, according to a March report by Will Brinson of CBSSports.com.

The Falcons, who already own one of the NFL's most lethal passing combinations in quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones, now have some help on the defensive side of the ball with eighth overall pick Vic Beasley, a pass-rusher from Clemson, in the fold. They can send the Giants crashing back down to earth in Week 2, although a 1-1 start with a divisional win wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for New York.

Week 7, Oct. 25: Vs. Dallas Cowboys

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The Giants get both of their games with the Dallas Cowboys out of the way before Week 8 this year, so the outcome of the first meeting at AT&T Stadium will still be fresh when these two teams clash again.

If the Giants beat the Cowboys (something they have not done since Oct. 28, 2012—The Dez Bryant Finger Game) in the season opener, Dallas will be out for revenge in the rematch. New York will feel the additional pressure of protecting its home field.

The second Cowboys matchup comes at the end of a short week for the Giants, who play the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football just before Dallas visits. Beating the Eagles would mark a rare occasion, since the Giants have won just three of 14 faceoffs with Philadelphia since December 2008. 

Wins in Weeks 1, 3 and 6 would give the Giants a 3-0 start in NFC East competition, with a victory versus each divisional rival. Beating the same team twice is a tough challenge, though, and the Giants could be stung by overconfidence during their second attempt to oust the Cowboys.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, wide receiver Dez Bryant and tight end Jason Witten have thwarted the Giants plenty of times in the past. It wouldn't be surprising to see them do it again this October, perhaps tarnishing a previously perfect record in the division.

Week 9, Nov. 8: At Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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There's no such thing as a cupcake game for a team coming off of a 6-10 season (See: Jacksonville Jaguars 25, Giants 24; Week 13, 2014), but New York's Week 9 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers comes close.

The Buccaneers were the worst team in the NFL last year and will be quarterbacked by a rookie in Jameis Winston in 2015. The Giants should be able to take advantage of Winston's inexperience, as savvy veteran Eli Manning outduels him to an easy victory.

The Tampa Bay game is tucked inside a tough stretch, though. The Giants play back-to-back prime-time games against the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles in Weeks 5 and 6, followed by a late-afternoon start against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 7 and then the New Orleans Saints on the road in Week 8. The final two games before New York's Week 11 bye are against the Bucs and the New England Patriots.

Wins against the Eagles and Cowboys would be huge. Although the 49ers and Saints both seem to be trending downward, victories against these two former NFC powers will be just as momentous. These big games, with the Patriots on the horizon, could cause the Giants to overlook the Buccaneers.

It will also be tough for the Giants to travel so far south two weeks in a row (New Orleans in Week 8, Tampa Bay in Week 9). Half a season of experience could be all Winston needs to surprise the Giants, delivering the team a loss in what should be its easiest game of the season.

Week 12, Nov. 29: At Washington Redskins

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The Giants have swept the Washington Redskins two seasons in a row, so they're due for a slip-up against their rivals from the nation's capital.

In Week 3, the Giants host the Redskins for Thursday Night Football. If the Giants win the first matchup as handily as they sometimes do (New York's biggest blowout of 2014: a 45-14 win over Washington in Week 4), their trip to D.C. in Week 12 could quickly become an afterthought.

The Giants will have film from earlier in the season and a bye week to break it all down before taking on the Redskins for a second time in 2015. With ample material and time to prepare for this game, there seems to be no way New York can lose…which is exactly why Washington may win.

Winners or losers, the Giants will enter the bye week coming off of a draining battle with the Patriots. Their focus will then shift to largely unfamiliar opponents in the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings (New York has not faced Jets, Dolphins since 2011; Panthers, Vikings since 2013).

If they're looking far enough ahead, the Giants may even have their sights set on a potential postseason "play-in" game versus the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 17.

The one game least likely to have New York's attention is the trip to Washington immediately following the bye. If the Giants aren't fully prepared for the Redskins, who have won only seven games the past two seasons combined, their home stretch may be shot before it ever reaches a sprint.

Week 14, Dec. 14: At Miami Dolphins

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The Giants will not be out of the woods by Week 14, as the Miami Dolphins are now a team that can serve them an unexpected loss.

The Dolphins haven't been an intimidating team for most of the new millennium, but they're certainly on the rise. Under head coach Joe Philbin, Miami has hovered around .500 for the past three seasons. Ryan Tannehill was recently extended, signaling to the rest of the NFL that the Dolphins have their quarterback of the future and could be on the cusp of a championship-caliber roster.

The Giants will have to face the Dolphins on the road, with Miami maybe eyeing up a playoff spot. The Dolphins acquired game-changing talents in free agency (defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh) and the draft (wide receiver DeVante Parker). The Giants will have a world of trouble handling these new additions if they're banged up for this late-season showdown on Monday Night Football.

The Giants and Dolphins have a recent history of close games, too. New York beat Miami, 13-10, in London during the 2007 season. When the two teams met at MetLife Stadium in 2011, New York won again, 20-17. The Giants won both games by a field goal and went on to win the Super Bowl both of those seasons—how close Miami came to changing pro football history.

New York's four-game stretch to end the 2015 season could be crucial for its playoff hopes. A loss to the Dolphins could put a major dent in those hopes before the Giants even get a chance to prove themselves against NFC playoff contenders in the Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles.

Kevin Boilard writes about the New York Giants at Bleacher Report.