By Anthony Cardone

We can go on and on about how bad and disappointing this 2018 New York Giants season has gone so far, but no matter how many times you laugh at Eli Manning or scream at the television that the offensive line is doing a terrible job, the Giants, at their 3-8 record, are still very much in it for the division.

Currently, they are in last place, but with the Redskins and Cowboys both sitting at 6-5 and the Eagles at 5-6, there really is not any team that’s running away with the NFC East.

Last week, the Cowboys won on Thanksgiving to beat the Redskins and tie up the division lead. The Redskins’ starting quarterback, Alex Smith, broke his leg the week prior and is out for the rest of the year. Smith had the Redskins at 6-3 and easily were the best looking team in the division, before the injury. Now the Redskins have to move forward with their backup quarterback Colt McCoy, who in a primetime game, did not prove to the league that the rest of the season couldn’t be more of a disaster.

The Cowboys and Eagles both have had offensive struggles, especially the defending Superbowl champions. Losing Jay Ajayi to a torn ACL has left nothing for the run game for Philadelphia, and acquiring Golden Tate at the trade deadline has not done much to the receiving game so far with Carson Wentz. Both defenses have been inconsistent this season, and really neither one looks like a playoff team.

The division is close. There is still a whole month to play of regular season football. Any injury can happen, any flag can be thrown and any big play can be made to turn one of these teams around.

So, should the Giants already be thinking about 2019? Not really. It is going to take a lot from the team and they are probably going to have to win the last five games of the regular season, especially all division games. That would put the Giants at an 8-8 record and could possibly look at a wild card spot if anything in a shockingly weak NFC conference.

Besides their loss in Philadelphia last Sunday, the Giants have seen some upside, winning two games in a row. Barkley has literally been unstoppable, getting over 100 scrimmage yards in the last three games, including five total touchdowns in the last two.

The defense has made big stops on big drives including six interceptions in the last three games and a pick six with four interceptions against the Buccaneers last week.

The Giants are not where they want to be, and they definitely are on the outside looking in, but with a little help from other teams to take down the other three teams in the division and a good run down the stretch, the Giants could possibly turn this year around and have Manning and Odell link up for their first real playoff run together.