Giants' silver lining? They play in the NFC East

How bad is the NFC East? Bad enough that New York Giants' coach Tom Coughlin Monday used the condition of the division to try to prop up the spirits of his 0-4 team, telling reporters he led his meeting with talk about where the Giants stand in the division.

"We are aware of the circumstances in the NFC East," Coughlin said.

What are those circumstances? Well, the Dallas Cowboys lead the division at 2-2. Both the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles are 1-3. If the Giants can beat the Eagles next Sunday at MetLife Stadium and the Cowboys lose to the currently unbeaten Denver Broncos the Giants would be all of one game out in the division despite having one win in five games. The NFC East is now 1-7 vs. the AFC West.

"A win. That's what we need is a win," said Coughlin.

Coughlin said Monday he wasn't worried abotu Victor Cruz saying he wanted the Giants to go for a first down on fourth-and-1 from their own 30-yard line Sunday. The Giants punted, of course, and Dexter McCluster ran the ball 89 yards for a score. Coughlin said Cruz spoke out of "frustration" and jokingly added that he asked Cruz "if he wanted to fight."

Can anything positive be taken from Sunday's 31-7 loss to the kansas City Chiefs?

"I felt good about the effort," Coughlin said, while admitting that the Giants "need to be a smarter team."

Despite having scored only seven points in the last two weeks Coughlin expressed confidence in offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.

"I'm very confident in our offensive coaches. They've proven themselves over the years," Coughlin said.

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