NEXT stop, 5-0. Well, maybe not the very next stop, but that’s the destination the Giants should be headed, starting with Sunday’s soft landing in Tampa, followed by a cushy trip to Kansas City then a comfy return home to meet and greet
the Raiders, whose fan base is more fearsome than the team they love.
The Giants are out of the gates with a flourish at 2-0, alone at the top of the NFC East.
Sure, the next two games are on the road, but are there less-imposing teams to meet up with than the Bucs and Chiefs? At the end of the three-game road swing comes a rare Giants Stadium date with the Raiders, who haven’t employed Kenny Stabler for quite some time. The combined record of the next three opponents is 1-5.
If the Giants sometime in the late afternoon on Oct. 11 aren’t sitting pretty at 5-0, something’s wrong.
“Going into the first two games, that was definitely a big deal,” defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said. “A couple division games — one at home, one on the road. We knew that if we could get two wins we would be in a good spot. With that being said, we all know how long the season really is. We are just trying to keep our focus level the same. We’re good and we are happy about the position we are in right now. We are ready to go forward.”
The Giants never made it to 5-0 last year, tripped up in Cleveland after going 4-0, but a stunning seven-game winning streak catapulted them to 11-1 before the best team in the NFL developed cracks that couldn’t be repaired.
Warts already have surfaced despite this year’s 2-0 record. The Giants are a ridiculous 0-for-8 in the red zone — no touchdowns once inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. They’ve been lousy in short yardage and Brandon Jacobs (3.3 yards per attempt) looks stuck in the mud.
The heralded defensive line went sack-less on the road against Dallas and now might have to brace for the loss of Justin Tuck to a shoulder injury. Rotations on the line and in the secondary haven’t coalesced because too many injuries have arisen. The Cowboys ripped through the run defense for 251 yards.
Winning while adjusting is an admirable trait, but the Giants won’t have to be perfect the next three weeks to keep it going, but they are anxious to start clicking.
“We go into every game expecting to win,” receiver Steve Smith said. “We don’t want the game to even be close. I thought we left a lot of opportunities on the field [against the Cowboys]. We are happy with the win, but we didn’t play up to our best.”
Tom Coughlin will have issues with anyone caught characterizing the next three games as the calm before the storm, but even he acknowledges that the emotion invested in preparing for the Bucs is different than during Cowboys week.
“As I say to them each week at the end of the week, ‘Win one game. Win one game and then we will come back together and we will worry about what it is we need to do to be in position to win the next game,’ ” Coughlin said. “So I think that has been the position we have taken. The players have understood what is meant by that. And I would expect that that will continue.”
Continue all the way to 5-0.
paul.schwartz@nypost.com