It’s November 1, and the New York Giants are in first place in the division, playing like a team that is going places.

Let that sink in, Giants fans. This season, the Giants sit atop the NFC East with a winning record despite season-ending losses to starting quarterback Jaxson Dart, outside linebacker Brian Burns, and inside linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.

This hasn’t been smoke and mirrors either. Head coach John Harbaugh and his staff have swooped into East Rutherford not only with an eye for talent and a focus on getting the most out of it, but also with an understanding of how and when to push the right buttons to get even more from their players.

The best example came after an embarrassing Week 6 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson openly called out those players who weren’t giving their full effort.

Harbaugh cut running back Najee Harris for underperforming in his role as the lead back in that game, then passive-aggressively complained about the rotation. The head coach then challenged the remaining running backs to step up and show they wanted the RB1 job.

Harbaugh also sent defensive lineman Jihad Ward, who was thought to be one of the guys not running hard to the ball on defense, packing despite the team being thin on the defensive line.

The result? Message received by the players. The Giants came out swinging against a Houston Texans team in Week 7, which came into that game with the third-best run defense and whose offense was starting to heat up, and they took the Texans to the mat, beating them 27-21 in overtime.

“I don't know if it's so much philosophy. It's just a week-to-week feel thing with your guys,” Harbaugh said when asked about when to challenge players openly.

“Our guys understand that we have to confront everything that has to do with our football, and if we do that, that comes from a place of love because we care enough, we all care enough, and we need to hear it too, as coaches, and we did from our players.”

A Healthy Give and Take

“There were some things about game planning in terms of how much was on our plate in different kinds of ways that we had to know, and I think first time through, we're trying to build in a lot of football that over time kind of adds up,” he said when asked for an example of some feedback the players offered the coaches that the coaches acted upon.

“We were probably getting in front of ourselves, getting over our skis a little bit, I would say maybe, in terms of just being on point with execution. We talked a lot about that; we did, we did talk a lot about that. Our coaches tried to do a good job of responding, and I thought the coaches did a good job too.”

It’s all part of the big picture quest, which is to win the division, which of course would mean a postseason berth and playoff game at home, which, if they accomplish that objective, would incredibly mark just the second time since MetLife Stadium opened in 2010 that the Giants have had a postseason game in their own building.

If Harbaugh has his way, the Giants will have a lot of those late January games at home. But for now, it’s one step at a time.  

“We have a long way to go, we have a lot of work to do, we're going to be playing some really tough games coming up here in the next few weeks, really physical, violent, tough games that are going to require our best football, our best execution,” he said.

“We're going to have to be at our best. November football is in front of us, and that's what we've got to be pointing towards.