The New York Giants earned a thrilling 37-34 victory over the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, taking control of the NFC East and their playoff destiny. The Giants (7-6) know, however, that their work is far from done and that this Sunday's game at MetLife Stadium against the 4-9 Washington Redskins (1 p.m. ET/FOX) is critical.
"Basically, we are in the playoffs now. We knew that we couldn't afford to fall further behind Dallas when we went into the game. We are in a playoff type atmosphere from here on out. We have a big division game this week and we have to take it one game at a time and see what happens," said Giants center Kevin Boothe. "We have to give Washington our best shot. They lost a couple of tough ones and they could have very easily won them against quality opponents so we know that we are going to have our hands full on Sunday."
The Redskins have lost eight of their last nine following a fast 3-1 start. That fast start included a season-opening 28-14 victory over the Giants in which Rex Grossman passed for 305 yards and two touchdowns. The problems in the Giants' secondary that were exposed in that game have still not been resolved, leading coach Tom Coughlin to call the continued communication breakdowns a "grave concern."
"The thing that I'm most discouraged about and disappointed is when we do have a breakdown in communication and we do have some type of an error that gives up a big play. And that should not be happening," Coughlin said. "You can list any number of reasons why those things happen. None of which satisfies anything, obviously."
The Giants may play Sunday without defensive ends Osi Umenyiora (ankle) and Justin Tuck (toe). The Giants open the week as seven-point favorites. You can see all the NFL point spreads at SB Nation's NFL Odds Page powered by Odds Shark.