It wouldn’t be New York if its fans and media didn’t often overreact to each game that any professional team plays in New York. That response just comes with the territory when rooting for or discussing teams in the New York City area.

Sure enough, to the degree that the Giants were being discussed as part of the National Football League elite after a dominant 5-0 start, was the extent to which many in the New York area were asking what was wrong with the Giants and how New York could let its entire season slip away after a subsequent four-game slide.

No doubt, the questions surrounding the problems that the Giants still need to fix this season were, and still are, legitimate. And, if the Giants don’t soon rectify a lot of the issues that were exposed during their aforementioned four-game losing streak, it’s true, Big Blue’s goal of reaching the playoffs could be in serious jeopardy.

But, for those who were spewing all of the doom and gloom talk about the Giants’ playoff possibilities, many going so far as to say that the Giants’ fourth straight loss ended their season, take a look at the current NFC standings after what happened on Sunday, as the Giants tried to regroup during their bye week.

Sure, New York had slipped from 5-0 to 5-4, and from first place to third place in the NFC East.

Yet, simply by not playing, the Giants moved back into a tie for second place with the 5-4 Philadelphia Eagles (who were beaten in San Diego on Sunday), and are now just one game behind the 6-3 Dallas Cowboys, the NFC East leaders, who lost at Green Bay this week.

As for the NFC wild-card race, the Giants and Eagles are not only tied for the wild-card lead with each other, but also with the 5-4 Atlanta Falcons (losers at Carolina on Sunday) and the 5-4 Green Bay Packers. Carolina, San Francisco, and Chicago are each a game back, at 4-5.

For all of this past week’s chatter about the Giants’ season being over, New York still very much controls its own destiny as long as it can pull everything together and play better.

The Giants host Atlanta next week, while having other home dates with Dallas, Philadelphia, and Carolina in December. And, the Giants are done with both the Cowboys and Eagles on the road.

The bottom line is that while the Giants have to correct a lot of what plagued them while losing four games in a row, and they still have much work to do in order to reach the playoffs this year, they’re very far from the fate many had prematurely predicted for them (if any Giants are Mark Twain fans, they can certainly relate).

As evidenced while the Giants rested this week, no one else in the NFC East seems to be running away with their division, and even less so in the NFC wild-card picture.

So, at least for now Giant fans, view the remaining Giant games in this season the same way your team plans on approaching them. It may sound clichéd, but forget about the recent past and take the rest of the season one game at a time.

Because it doesn’t appear that anything regarding where the Giants are headed this season, one way or the other, will be determined any time soon.

Through Week 9:

THE ELITE:

#1  SAINTS [8-0]: New Orleans is averaging 37.9 ppg and has won 7 games by double digits.

#2  COLTS [8-0]: 16-0 for the 2007 Patriots? How about 17 straight regular season wins and counting for Indy?

#3  STEELERS [6-2]: After a 1-2 start, Pittsburgh has won 5 straight to keep pace with the hot Bengals.

#4  VIKINGS [7-1]: Minnesota is positioning itself well for the playoffs, already at 5-0 in the NFC.

SECOND-TIER CONTENDERS:

#5  PATRIOTS [6-2]: All those defensive defections? No problem. New England is allowing just 14.4 ppg.

#6  COWBOYS [6-2]: Dallas didn’t impress much in its 3-2 start, but has played very well since.

#7  BENGALS [6-2]: Cincinnati is looking like the comeback team of the year after a 4-11-1 season in 2008.

#8  BRONCOS [6-2]: After a 6-0 start, Denver has come crashing back to reality losing twice by a combined 58-17.

#9  CHARGERS [5-3] : After a 1-3 start, San Diego is heating up, going 3-0 since as the defense has stepped it up.

#10  CARDINALS [5-3]: Arizona should be a little better. The Cards are 4-0 on the road but just 1-3 at home.

#11  EAGLES [5-3]: Philadelphia has as inconsistent as any team, but remains in the playoff hunt halfway though.

#12  FALCONS [5-3]: Atlanta is 5-0 against teams with non-winning records, but 0-3 against winning teams.

MIRED IN MEDIOCRITY:

#13  TEXANS [5-4]: After a 2-3 start, Houston has played much better going 3-1 since, taking Indy to the wire.

#14  GIANTS [5-4]: Big Blue has gone from the NFL’s elite at 5-0, to four straight losses and trying to find itself.

#15  BALTIMORE [4-4]: Baltimore won three, then lost three, crushed Denver at home, but then lost at Cincy.

#16  JETS [4-4]: Gang Green started 3-0, but has gone 1-4 since, seemingly a myriad of different ways to lose.

#17  BEARS [4-4]: Chicago didn’t lose at home until last week (3-1), but has just one road win (1-3).

#18  PACKERS [4-4]: Minnesota (0-2 vs. the Vikings) and a bad loss at previously winless Tampa has cost Green Bay.

#19  JAGUARS [4-4]: Narrow three-point wins over the lowly Rams and Chiefs have kept Jacksonville alive for now.

#20  PANTHERS [3-5]: After an 0-3 start, Carolina went 3-1 and looked great, but just for a half, in New Orleans.

#21  49ERS [3-5]: It’s all fallen apart for San Francisco, which has lost four straight after starting 3-1.

#22  DOLPHINS [3-5]: Miami began 0-3, but has become very competitive with the wildcat and Chad Henne.

#23  BILLS [3-5]: Starting just 1-5, Buffalo surprised the Jets and Panthers on the road, but lost to Houston at home.

LOOKING TOWARD THE 2010 DRAFT:

#24  SEAHAWKS [3-5]: Seattle was down 17-0 to Detroit last week before rallying to barely stay alive… for now.

#25  TITANS [2-6]: After 6 losses including a 59-0 embarrassment, Tennessee has finally awoken with a pair of wins.

#26  RAIDERS [2-6]: Oakland beat Philly and was competitive twice against San Diego, but has been bad otherwise.

#27  REDSKINS [2-6]: Washington has yet to score over 17 points, and has only narrow wins against two bad teams.

#28  CHIEFS [1-7]: Kansas City took Dallas to OT but has lost twice to Oakland by identical 13-10 scores. Enough said.

#29  RAMS [1-7]: Despite a win in Detroit and road losses by just 2 and 3 points, St. Louis has been outscored 221-77.

#31  BUCCANEERS [1-7]: Throwback uniforms and Josh Freeman at QB ended the NFL’s longest losing streak at 11.

#30  BROWNS [1-7]: St. Louis has company. Cleveland has been outscored 209-78. The win was ugly, 6-3, at Buffalo.

#32  LIONS [1-7]: Detroit has allowed under 26 points just twice while failing to score 20 points in half its games.

At 5-1, after getting pummeled in New Orleans, the doubts crept in, but there was no huge cause for alarm yet.

At 5-2, giving a home game away to Arizona with careless mistakes, the suspicions grew stronger.

Now, at 5-3, getting blown out for the second time in three weeks on the road, against an NFC contender, the Giants might even be questioning themselves as to how good they really are.

Such is life in the NFL. Legitimate Super Bowl contender one month, great uncertainty if you can even make the playoffs the next month.

As bad as the Giants looked against the Saints and Cardinals, all would have been forgiven had they gone to Philadelphia, a place they’ve often played well in recent years, and won. After all, despite a couple of losses in a row, 6-2 and first place in the NFC East at the halfway point of the 2009 season, on pace to match last year’s 12-4 and NFC East division title would have still been just fine among the Giants and their fans.

Contrast that with losing 40-17 in Philadelphia on Sunday however, and what you’re left with is as big a disparity as the Giants’ good play in starting this season 5-0 and the their awful play in their three straight losses since.

Much like the loss in New Orleans, Sunday’s game, which was supposed to be a hard fought NFC East showdown, was over early for New York.

The Eagles jumped on the Giants fast. Three plays after the opening kickoff, fullback Leonard Weaver, from a small school called Carson-Newman College, filing in for star running back Brian Westbrook, ran up the middle, 41 yards for a touchdown, to put Philadelphia up 7-0, just 94 seconds into the game.

On the Giants’ first possession, Asante Samuel, who probably cost the New England Patriots the only 19-0 season in NFL history when he dropped what should have been a late interception on a ball thrown by Eli Manning in Super Bowl XLII, didn’t drop a Manning pass this time. Instead, Samuel intercepted Manning and returned the ball 37 yards to the Giants’ 10-yard line, setting up an eventual 17-yard touchdown pass from Eagles’ quarterback Donovan McNabb to tight end Brent Celek (PAT missed). And, just like that, it was 13-0, Eagles, just 3:45 into the game.

On Philadelphia’s third possession, New York allowed McNabb to direct the Eagles 72 yards on 15 plays in 6:47, to take a 16-0 lead on a 30-yard David Akers field goal 9 seconds into the second quarter.

The Giants tried to make it a game after that, forcing a punt on Philadelphia’s next possession, and then driving 89 yards on 8 plays in 6:58, cutting the Eagles’ lead to 16-7 on a Manning 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kevin Boss with 1:54 to go in the half.

But, then New York, just as it has since the beginning of its current losing streak, helped to give the game away.

The Giants allowed a kickoff return to the Eagles’ 46-yard line. McNabb needed just one play, a 64-yard strike for a touchdown to wide receiver DeSean Jackson with 1:38 left in the half, putting Philadelphia up 23-7.

Just two plays later, Manning threw his second interception, and the Giants were on their way to turning the ball over four times for the second consecutive week.

Philadelphia of course, quickly took advantage again, as McNabb needed only two plays to find rookie wide receiver Jeremy Maclin on a 23-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left in the opening half.

30-7, Eagles. Game over.

The teams played even on the scoreboard in the second half as the Giants never got closer than 33-17 with 1:03 left in the third quarter before Eagles’ rookie running back LeSean McCoy closed the scoring on a 62-yard touchdown run 38 seconds into the fourth quarter.

In a span of just three weeks, the Giants’ season is suddenly crumbling, and it all adds up to this…

The Giants have gone:

- From 5-0 to 5-3.

- From first place to third place in the NFC East, now a half-game behind 5-2 Philadelphia and Dallas.

- From a fundamentally sound team to a mistake-filled, careless team.

- From a team with a balance offense to one with an offense that’s out of sync.

- From the league’s leading defense to one that’s very quickly become a laughing stock.

Is it time to jump off the bandwagon?

As history, even fairly recent history, teaches, no. Not yet, not with so much football still left this season. There is still plenty of time to fix what has gone wrong over the past three weeks, and the Giants possess the talent among their players and their coaching staff to get their season back on track.

Remember, in 2007, the Giants started 0-2, allowing 80 points over the first two weeks, and later looked absolutely dreadful and anything but a playoff team in a 41-17 home loss to Minnesota, before ultimately putting it all together with a lot of the same key pieces they have now, to win a Super Bowl title.

That said, with a tough second half schedule ahead, the time is now for the Giants to regain the form they started with in 2009. That second half begins next Sunday at 1pm EST, at home against San Diego (4-3).

The 1-4 Bills have struggled to say the least on offense. QB Trent Edwards can’t get the ball to speedy WRs Lee Evans and Roscoe Parrish and Terrell Owens has been a disappointment to say the least. His ten year streak of catching a pass a game ended games ago, a telling sign that Owens and the rest of the Bills passing game has yet to get on track. Star RB Marshawn Lynch returned last week from a league suspension but a 6-3 home loss to the woeful Browns is proof that not even a top back in Lynch can resuscitate an offense in disarray.

The Bills defense lost two starting LBs for the season last week as well including former Giant  Kawika Mitchell. Jet WR Jerricho Cotchery is out with a hamstring injury but Braylon Edwards who had a great game in his Jet debut (5-64yds 1td) will look to pick up the slack. TE Dustin Keller (0 catches last week) could have a big game as well. Mark Sanchez rebounded beautifully in Miami after throwing 3 picks in New Orleans. His bomb to WR David Clowney could be a sign of things to come for an offense craving for a speedy threat. The rookie’s ability to hold onto the ball was key and will continue to be as the season progresses.

The Jet run game got going a little bit last week finally and have added RB Danny Woodhead to the roster. Woodhead had a monster final preseason game and will add depth to a team that could hit its stride against Buffalo and Oakland the following week. Any added injection to the Jet ground game will be an added plus. The Jet defense gave up 413 yards to the Fish last week. It will be interesting to see how the unit responds from such a humbling experience that saw the Wildcat dominate and the inexperienced QB Chad Henne have his way when he was asked to make third down throws.

Sunday at home is a big opportunity for the Jets to get back on track and begin what could be a two game win streak that could land the club at 5-2 before a week 8 rematch with Miami. The weather will be harsh as a winter storm has rolled in this October. For the Jets to be playing meaningful games when the real winter comes around, they’ll need to take care of business and win the games they’re supposed to win. Starting with Buffalo on Sunday.

THREE KEYS TO THE BUFFALO GAME

1-The return of the Jet Defense: This unit dominated Matt Schaub , Tom Brady, Kerry Collins  and Drew Brees  before last weeks hiccup. Trent Edwards has struggled. Now’s the time to regain that swagger.

2-Dustin Keller vs Bills LBs: Two Bills starters are out, so is Cotchery. Keller can help provide alot in the passing game and with bad weather in the forecast will need to be a security blanket for Sanchez in the passing game.

3-Jet secondary vs Lee Evans and Roscoe Parrish: The Bills haven’t gone deep all year. At some point they’ll have to try. Ted Ginn Jr beat the Jet secondary last week for a big TD. That can’t happen if the game is tight late in the second half tomorrow.

After veterans Saku Koivu and Mathieu Schneider scored in the first for an early 2-0 lead, the playoff-bound Canadiens held on and led wire-to-wire to beat an injury depleted Islanders team Thursday night. It was the Isles third straight loss as the club all but locked up the NHL’s worst record.

With five regular season games remaining, the Isles (25-43-9) stand at 59 points and Colorado, the next-worst team, has 64 points. The only positive news from finishing in the basement is the guarantee of a top-two draft pick in the lottery.

Montreal found success on the power play, finishing 3-8 with the man advantage. The Islanders lost the fights too, with Joel Rechlicz getting dropped by Georges Laraque. Doug Weight, who has not be known as a fighter in his 18-year career, initiated  his second fight in three games when he squared off against Mathieu Dandenault late in the third.

“Those are the games you need to get the puck in good spots, stay out of the [penalty] box and stay extra disciplined,” said Doug Weight, the most veteran Islander who played last night. “We weren’t tonight.

“We didn’t put the puck in great spots. Having said, we still played pretty good five-on-five. It’s a disappointing effort from our team for the first time in awhile.”

Before the contest, the Islanders announced the Coliseum will host the first two home games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the team’s minor league affiliate. The move made sense since many Bridgeport call-ups have been pressed into NHL service as injuries continue to plague the roster.

Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo, the team’s most productive defensive and offensive players, respectively, were scratched along with Sean Bergenheim and Dean McAmmond. Entering the evening, the Isles lost 532 man games to injury. Montreal capitalized on the Isles inexperience and lack of depth, forging a four-goal lead just 23:12 into the contest.

The bad news didn’t stop there for Islanders coach Scott Gordon. Andy Hilbert played just 9:41 before leaving the game with a rib injury. Nine players on the team’s game-night roster has spent time in Bridgeport, leaving the Islanders overmatched against a desperate Canadiens team clinging to the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot.

“Some of the penalties we had, we deserved, no question about it,” Gordon said. “That’s bothersome because we talk about it all the time. If you’re going to take a penalty, its got to save a goal. I don’t think there were too many that saved goals tonight.”

The first intermission didn’t help settle goalie Yann Danis, who gave up a goal to Alex Tanguay 71 seconds into the second period before defenseman Andrei Markov notched his 12th goal off Koivu’s pass on the power play 2:01 later for a 4-0 lead.

But Gordon elected to keep Danis in the game instead of replacing him with Joey MacDonald, who started the day before in Washington. Danis again struggled out of the gate in the third period, giving up Michael Komisarek’s goal 44 seconds into the third. With a horde of Montreal fans taking up almost the entire section behind his net, Danis enjoyed one bright spot when he turned aside Tom Kostopoulos on a penalty shot attempt early in the final period. In all, he finished with 33 saves.

“I thought the game was pretty even five-on-five,” Danis said. “They killed us on their power play.”

Montreal also battled shorthanded to a degree when the flu kept goalie Carey Price off the ice. Jaroslav Halak still managed to keep the Islanders off the scoreboard, turning aside 26 of 27 shots. Jeff Tambellini’s seventh goal of the season prevented the backup from logging the shutout.