Giants with cautious optimism regarding strong second half of season

Winners of two straight, the New York Giants now head into their bye week a different team than at the start of the month. But at 4-3, quarterback Eli Manning cautions that the Giants can’t quite think playoffs.

Yes there are good vibes around the Giants these days as their win two weeks ago over the Baltimore Ravens was followed up this past Sunday with a win in London against the Los Angeles Rams. The offense has been clicking – sort of – and the entire feel about the team is heading into the right direction. All this as Week 8 is probably the perfect time for the bye ahead of next weekend’s home game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Manning was asked on Tuesday about the trajectory of the team and if this had the feel of being a playoff season for the Giants. This franchise hasn’t made the postseason since 2011.

“It’s just a matter of how we play. You can’t start dreaming about playoff time right now. We have to have our focus on Philadelphia. We have three home games coming in after the bye,” Manning said. “Philadelphia is the next one. That’s who are focus is on. Keep finding ways to get wins and it’ll all work itself out.”

The bye does come smack-dab in the middle of the season, generally seen as a positive by most NFL teams. After four preseason games and now seven regular season games the Giants can take a little break both physically and mentally.

Certainly not a bad thing after news on Tuesday that kicker Josh Brown had been released following further revelations late last week stemming from domestic violence.

But for the Giants, the most important thing on their minds is not the distractions regarding their kicker or even the premature talk about the playoffs. It is about continuing the momentum of their two-game winning streak.

“It’s always good to have a break after a win. Having done it the other way, obviously that’s the bad thing about football,” Manning said. “You always have a week between each game. Baseball, basketball, sometimes they’re playing the next day or they only have two days to think about it. Two weeks after a loss to think about it, that’s a long time. It’s nice to go into the bye week feeling good about the win.”