Abdul Carter Just Wrote a Check the Giants Might Not Be Able to Cash

If we're being honest, how many genuinely impressive performances have the New York Giants had this season?

Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys was definitely an eye opener and remains the Giants' most complete game of the campaign, but they had Jaxson Dart under center and Brian Burns on the edge. The road win over the Houston Texans back in Week 7 was also nice.

Otherwise? New York needed last-second interceptions to beat the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals at home. It also struggled to defeat a banged-up Philadelphia Eagles team with no hope on the road.

And now, it has two awful home losses on its resume, having lost to the New Orleans Saints in Week 6 and the Washington Commanders on Thursday night.

To make matters worse, the easiest part of the Giants' schedule is over, as they will now embark on a nightmarish stretch that features games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions.

When asked about New York's upcoming slate, edge rusher Abdul Carter didn't seem concerned.

"We want all the smoke with all those teams. We not ducking no smoke," Carter said. "We're going to do one game at a time, but everybody's going to get our best. There's no team that we're looking at like 'oh my goodness.'"

While you can appreciate Carter not being scared of any team, there is no question the Giants are in some trouble here.

New York sits at 5-3-1 and remains atop the NFC East, but it just gave the Commanders life with its loss Thursday night. And if the Cowboys manage to beat the San Francisco 49ers at home on Sunday (a tall order, but you never know with Dallas), the Giants' lead will have shrunk to one-and-a-half games.

The rest of the division has a tough schedule, as well, but New York is very injured, and a lot of its success thus far has come from getting fortunate breaks.

Yes, good coaching has been the primary factor (although the play calling down the stretch against Washington was atrocious), but talent is the ultimate determining variable, and the Giants aren't elite in that area.

Is New York capable of surviving this upcoming stretch? It remains to be seen. The one time the Giants faced a supposed Super Bowl contender, they were smacked in Week 2 by the Los Angeles Rams. Are similar results coming in the weeks ahead?

We'll find out, but Carter may have just written a check New York is unable to cash.