{"id":1020674,"date":"2026-10-07T02:18:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T02:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1020674\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T02:18:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T02:18:30","slug":"giants-using-their-underdog-humbling-as-fuel-for-pivotal-commanders-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1020674\/","title":{"rendered":"Giants using their underdog ‘humbling’ as fuel for pivotal Commanders clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Harbaugh might need to get his T-shirt designer on the phone again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maybe the same person who created the \u201c1-0\u201d shirts that were all the rage around the Giants last week can create a red shirt with a \u201cU\u201d across the front and a blue cape in time for all the players to dress up as \u201cUnderdog\u201d for Halloween.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re underdogs every week,\u201d cornerback Greg Newsome II said after Tuesday\u2019s meetings. \u201cThat\u2019s enough humbling for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Off to a surprising 3-1 start, the Giants are aware that their back-to-back last-minute wins against the hapless Titans and Cardinals have not changed public skepticism about their legitimacy as a contender. And another win against the Commanders \u2014 who are favored by 2.5 points \u2014 Sunday might not alter many opinions, either.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Giants, Browns (at Jets), Raiders (at Patriots) and Lamar Jackson-less Ravens (at Falcons) are the teams with winning records listed as underdogs this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The cynics \u201cdefinitely\u201d have the locker room\u2019s attention, Newsome said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Giants linebacker Arvell Reese (52) celebrates with cornerback Greg Newsome II (20) after intercepting the ball during the second quarter of a game against the Arizona Cardinals in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. Bill Kostroun for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always want something to go into a game and just give you an extra motivating boost,\u201d Newsome said. \u201cWe don\u2019t really care what the outside world believes. We know what we have on this team. We know what we\u2019re all about, so at the end of the day, no matter who we play, we just have to play to the best of our ability and try to find a way to go 1-0.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

NFL players are prohibited from wagering on the league. It doesn\u2019t mean they are blind to the point spreads or the score predictions made on pregame shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo behind the scenes with Big Blue\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Giants by Paul Schwartz, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Running back Cam Skattebo railed against the Giants being installed as home underdogs to the Cardinals, though teams without their franchise quarterback (Jaxson Dart) and Defensive Player of the Year candidate (Brian Burns) tend to be doubted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s dumb to be underdogs at home,\u201d Skattebo said after a 36-24 victory. \u201cEspecially when you are a good football team. When people want to bet against you at your own place and you\u2019ve got a team coming from a six-hour flight on a time change, it\u2019s a pretty difficult feeling as a team when you feel like you are put underneath them. So we came out here and handled business.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Giants hold sole possession of first place in the NFC East<\/a> for the first time since Week 11 of the 2015 season. Their 5-5 record at the time spiraled into a 6-10 finish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ArizonaArizona Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love (4) is tackled by New York Giants linebacker Arvell Reese (52) during the second quarter of a game, Sunday, October 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. Bill Kostroun for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure you can play [as a first-place team] with an underdog mentality,\u201d Newsome said. \u201c[Because] 3-1 can easily turn into 3-14 if you\u2019re not careful enough. If you\u2019re not humble, you will get humbled. So we have to continue to have that mindset that we had in the beginning of the season, and we\u2019re going to carry it the entire way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

If an \u201cUs against the world\u201d mentality is building, Harbaugh won\u2019t stop it by downplaying the opportunity to continue surprising people in a wide-open division.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a game this week \u2014 a very pivotal game, a very big game \u2014 in terms of the opportunity that it presents our football team now, where we\u2019re at,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cWe have an opportunity to make headway on the season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Harbaugh might need to get his T-shirt designer on the phone again.\u00a0 Maybe the same person who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[427,7,9041,2909,56,6,9,855,111,2480],"class_list":["post-1020674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-washington-commanders","tag-commanders","tag-football","tag-greg-newsome-ii","tag-john-harbaugh","tag-new-york-giants","tag-nfl","tag-sports","tag-washington","tag-washington-commanders","tag-washingtoncommanders"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117397232730241532","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1020674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1020674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1020674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1020674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1020674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1020674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}