Convincing Win on TNF Proves Giants Are Front-Runners in Sagging NFC East

Only in the NFC Least can a team choke away its first two games in historic fashion, not notch a victory until the season's third week, win a game that can best be described as "a Thursday slopfest" and emerge from that game as the front-runner in the division.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce the 2015 New York Giants.

After becoming the first team in the history of the National Football League to blow double-digit fourth-quarter leads in each of their first two games, the Giants notched win No. 1 of the 2015 campaign, downing a listless Washington Redskins team 32-21.

And in doing so, Big Blue may now be the leading candidates to become the champions of a division no one wants to win in 2015.

Team	Record	Week 3 Opponent
Dallas Cowboys*	2-0-0	vs. Atlanta Falcons (2-0-0)
New York Giants	1-2-0	Defeated Washington 32-21
Washington Redskins	1-2-0	Lost to New York Giants 32-21
Philadelphia Eagles	0-2-0	at New York Jets (2-0-0)

Mind you, this isn't to say the Giants are a good football team. They might be—if you're being generous. But they are not really good. They certainly aren't great.

The red-zone woes that plagued the Giants over the season's first two weeks continued into Thursday's game. The team's only red-zone touchdown (a one-yard Andre Williams run) was set up by a Redskins turnover. Other than that, it's been what it's been the past two games—futility and the foot of kicker Josh Brown.

The Giants really had all of one impact play on offense all night. It was provided by exactly who you would expect:

As for defensive impact? Here's all you need to know: About halfway through the fourth quarter, linebacker Jonathan Casillas sacked quarterback Kirk Cousins. It was the Giants' first sack of the game—and third of the season.

Meanwhile, that defense, which entered Week 3 ranked dead-last in the NFL, continues to hemorrhage players. Defensive end Robert Ayers missed the game with an injured hamstring. Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie sat as well. Batterymate Prince Amukamara missed a chunk of the second half with a bad ankle.

And yet, this team may actually be in the best position to win the NFC East. Seriously.

Leading up to Thursday night's thrilling affair (and by thrilling, I mean it violated the Constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment), head coach Tom Coughlin preached to his team that the Giants were far from out of it, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post:

"The situation in our division is very obvious to all of you," Coughlin said. "I'm going to point that out to our team, how important this upcoming game is."

And he's right. It's something of a cosmic comedy, but Coughlin is absolutely right.

The 2-0 Dallas Cowboys? Yes, they lead the division. But the team will also be without the services of quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Dez Bryant indefinitely. Last year's three amigos of Romo, Bryant and DeMarco Murray has given way to the Three Stooges of Brandon Weeden, Joseph Randle and Terrance Williams.

Murray is in Philadelphia now, where he has 11 rushing yards over the first two games after leading the NFL with more than 1,800 last year. The Eagles' supposedly high-octane offense? All it's been is highly offensive in two losses to start the year. The defense might be worse, especially against the pass. And they travel to face a white-hot New York Jets team this weekend—0-3 anyone?

The Redskins? Yes, entering Week 3, Washington led the NFL in both rushing offense and total defense. That and nine dollars will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. The Redskins are what they are—a team that's maybe slightly better than last year's 4-12 incarnation.

And that leaves the Giants. The flawed and floundering Giants, who did everything in their power to let Washington hang around Thursday night. After not allowing a touchdown over the first three quarters, the Giants allowed two in less than a minute in the fourth, including a 100-yard kickoff return.

But try though they might, the Giants just couldn't give a third straight game away.

Coughlin credited his quarterback for playing a mistake-free game Thursday night:

For his part, Eli Manning told Tracy Wolfson of CBS Sports in a televised postgame interview that the G-Men just needed to stop the bleeding:

"

We needed a win bad. We came off two close losses...we needed to hold on in the fourth quarter. We needed a win. We've got to keep working. We've got some good players...but we've got to keep working.

"

Hey, you know the Manning boys and commercials. Maybe it was an audition to be the next Captain Obvious. A guy's gotta make a living.

The thing is, just like Coughlin, Manning's right.

The Cowboys are going to come back to the pack. The Redskins just aren't good. And the Eagles are worse.

The Giants have a long week to get ready for an Oct. 4 trip upstate to face a scrappy Buffalo Bills team, then have five winnable games in a row—including a rematch with the injury-ravaged Cowboys on Oct. 25.

It seems almost inconceivable. Laughable, even. But as things stand right now, the New York Giants probably have the best chance of emerging as the "champions" of a division that's looking more and more like last year's NFC South.

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Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.