It is a mad, mad, mad, mad world in the NFC and somehow, some way, the Giants are alive in the NFC playoff chase.
Their rousing 24-22 victory over the Packers on Monday night was not only their first victory of the season in prime time — they were 0-4 before this — but also served as the Giants’ introduction into the postseason chase.
They are far from the lead, of course, but they can now say they are at least in the race.
At 5-8, they have the same record as the 12-seed Bears and one game behind five teams that are sitting at 6-7: The Packers (who hold the tiebreaker and would make the playoffs if the season ended today), Rams, Seahawks, Falcons and Saints.
So, the Giants are not exactly sitting at the grown-up table.
But at least they have a chair in the postseason dining room.
“I don’t know how the statistics and stuff work, but I think we are,’’ Kayvon Thibodeaux said of the Giants’ playoff chances. “I hope we are.’’
Informed where the Giants sit in the NFC, Thibodeaux said, “One game out. Gotta keep going then.’’
Dexter Lawrence returned to the starting lineup after missing his first game of the season two weeks ago against the Patriots with a strained hamstring.
Lawrence was on snap count, alternating series for most of the evening.
Second-year defensive lineman D.J. Davidson was on the field when Lawrence was on the sideline, working on the inside with A’Shawn Robinson.
Lawrence combined with Azeez Ojulari on a fourth-quarter sack of Jordan Love for a 10-yard loss on third down.
Ojulari came into the game without a sack this season.
In the fourth quarter, Ojulari had a tackle for loss on Jayden Reed, dropping him for a 5-yard loss.
Tyrod Taylor was activated off injured reserve prior to the game and served as the backup quarterback to starter Tommy DeVito.
Taylor missed four consecutive games dealing with four cracked ribs, two of which were displaced.
This was Taylor’s role to start the season, No. 2 on the depth chart behind Daniel Jones.
Thibodeaux had a third-quarter sack of Love, giving him a team-leading 12 for the season. … Benton Whitley, a 24-year old outside linebacker from Holy Cross, made a contribution by recovering a fumble by Keisean Nixon early in the third quarter. … RB Matt Breida has not been seen or heard from much recently but he gave the offense a lift in the third quarter. Breida, subbing for Saquon Barkley for a series, had back-to-back runs of 7 and 9 yards on a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a DeVito touchdown pass to Isaiah Hodgins.
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