EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - When the Giants returned for the start of the second half of the season, Odell Beckham Jr. knew what they had to do. "Win eight games," he said. "Go 9-7 and go to the playoffs."

It was a "goal," he said. Not a prediction. Even he wasn't crazy enough to make it a prediction.

Two games and two wins later, though…

Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said his goal of winning out and making the playoffs, even when New York was 1-7, was a realistic goal.

Two wins later, he's not backing down from it.

The Giants beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38-35 on Sunday, their second straight victory after they entered the bye week on a five-game losing streak.

Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- When the Giants passed on a quarterback of the future and drafted Saquon Barkley, they were sure he was exactly what Eli Manning needed. They thought he'd be the weapon that could revive their offense. They imagined him adding years to Manning's career.

It took 10 games into this lost season, but now everyone can really see why.

Former Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said he had "no hard feelings" toward his old team after his Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the Giants 38-35 on Sunday in Pierre-Paul's first game in New York not as a Giant.

"There are no hard feelings with the Giants at all," Pierre-Paul said, according to the New York Daily News' Pat Leonard. "At the end of the day it's business. Business is business."

The 29-year-old Pierre-Paul had spent his first eight seasons with New York before he was traded to Tampa Bay for two draft picks. A fixture on New York's defensive line, Pierre-Paul totaled 58 sacks and 13 forced fumbles as a Giant.

"He is one of the good guys in the NFL," Manning said.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - A second straight win against another bad team may not be good news for anyone rooting for the Giants to land a Top 5 pick in the next NFL draft.

But it sure did feel good to everyone at the Meadowlands on Sunday afternoon.

Even though the Giants seemed to barely hang on to their 38-35 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it was still a reminder of the value of a victory. They topped 30 points for just the second time in 42 games, dating back three seasons. They got a defensive touchdown and forced the Bucs to bench their starting quarterback (although that turned out to be a not-so good thing).

Redskins QB Alex Smith suffered a gruesome season-ending injury during the second half on Sunday, breaking his tibia and fibula during Washington's loss to the Texans. 

Smith will need immediate surgery for the injury, head coach Jay Gruden said after the game.

The 34-year-old Smith was replaced by Colt McCoy, who was unable to complete a comeback in the final seconds as the Skins fell to 6-4...

The 2-7 Giants are tied with the Cardinals for the third-worst record in the NFL, putting them on track to have another top-five pick in the NFL Draft.

While the potential QB class of 2019 isn't as star-studded as the 2018 class that featured Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, and Josh Rosen, there are a bunch of potential first-round talents the Giants can dream on if they choose to pick Eli Manning's replacement.

Here's how they performed this weekend...

Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive

THE GAME 

The Giants (2-7) vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-6) at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 1 p.m.

THE WEATHER

Snowpocalypse is apparently over for now, and it should be a relatively pleasant but chilly day for this game. The high temperature will be in the low 40s, but it'll be mostly cloudy with the usual light Meadowlands winds, so it'll probably feel like it's in the 30s. The good news is with no more snow in the forecast, Northern New Jersey might have the roads cleared by kickoff.

WHAT IT MEANS

If you're rooting for the tank so they can get a higher draft position, then this is another huge game against a team that figures to be in the mix for a top-10 or even top-five pick. As bad as the Giants are, a couple of wins could push them much closer to 10 and that much farther away from being in the mix for a franchise quarterback. That's not so important to the players and coaches on the field, though, so for them, this is another golden opportunity to keep things positive and for Pat Shurmur to keep his locker room together. I know, for the tankers, that doesn't mean much, but trust me, it means the world to the franchise.

Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive

This is a terrible time for New York football, with the Giants and Jets sitting on what feels like rock bottom. They are a combined 5-14 this season, and the playoffs are already out of reach. And they are a combined 13-38 (.254) since the beginning of 2018.

But while there may not be hope at the moment for either team, there is still some talent on their two rosters. If they could only somehow combine the two, they might even have the makings of a playoff team.

Giants coach Pat Shurmur wants Saquon Barkley to get a little more "dirty."

The rookie running back has dazzled everyone with his knack for big-play gains through nine games this season but the Giants head coach said there is plenty more to learn for Barkley. 

"He's had success bouncing runs in the past and gotten big gains out of them, but there also is what I call a dirty 4-, 5-, 6-yard run that he has the be willing to take as well," Shurmur told reporters earlier this week. "It's a fine line."

Landon Collins believes Jerry Rice dropped the ball on this one. 

The Giants safety disagreed with the Hall of Fame wide receiver, who said on Monday that Eli Manning is not a Hall of Fame quarterback. 

"Everybody has their opinions, honestly," Collins said. "Eli Manning has done a lot of great things. Jerry Rice has done a lot of great, great things."

After beating the 49ers, an upbeat Odell Beckham Jr. reiterated Thursday that the Giants can win out to finish the season.

"Seven games left. Same thing I said last week, we can win all these games," he said. "I'm gonna see what happens -- that's the goal."

"When I said it I heard a lot of chuckles and all that stuff, but it's only crazy until you do it. One down, we got seven left.

It has been a big debate in recent years, even though he hasn't retired yet: Will Giants QB Eli Manning be voted into the Football Hall of Fame?

Manning has the two Super Bowl rings, two Super Bowl MVPs, and is sixth all-time in passing yards. That alone would deem a player worthy of residing in the Hall. However, some look at Manning's almost .500 career record, and fall off in the past few years beyond the numbers as reason to exclude him. 

And during an interview with 95.7 The Game before the Giants faced the 49ers on Monday night, Hall of Fame WR Jerry Rice is in the belief that Manning won't be among his colleagues in the Hall one day...

Giants running back Jonathan Stewart practiced on Thursday as he looks to return from a foot injury that has kept him off the field for most of the season.

The veteran Stewart was placed on injured reserve but now has a designation to return/return to practice from a foot injury he suffered in late September that did not require surgery.

New York signed Stewart, 31, to a two-year deal in the offseason so he could help mentor No. 2 pick Saquon Barkley. In three regular-season games, Stewart totaled six carries for 17 yards. 

It was a business decision at the end of the day, but the Giants would certainly like to see DE Jason Pierre-Paul in a Big Blue jersey once again after the season he's currently having. 

New GM Dave Gettleman made the move to get remaining three years of Pierre-Paul's four-year, $62 million contract off the books this offseason, trading him to the Buccaneers. Well, he has totaled 68 combined tackles, 8.5 sacks,a nd two forced fumbles as he looks like the JPP of old so far this season. 

This week, the Giants will have to deal with him as an opponent for the first time, and head coach Pat Shurmur knows exactly what kind of "disruptive" player he can be. 

Jason Pierre-Paul is fired up about the way the Giants handled his exit, and plans to take out some of his anger on Sunday when the Buccaneers take on Big Blue at MetLife Stadium. 

"Honestly, I had this game checked out since I left there," he said Wednesday on a conference call. "I'm coming, man, and I'm bringing the house down.''

The 29-year-old Pierre-Paul, who is having a huge season -- with eight sacks and one forced fumble in nine games -- said that only one person associated with the Giants reached out to him when he was traded in March.

Former Giants G Patrick Omameh is making his way back to Jacksonville.

The Jaguars signed the offensive lineman on Tuesday after the Giants released him on Nov. 10. Omameh signed a three-year, $15 million deal with the Giants as GM Dave Gettleman looked to sure up the O-line for this season. That marriage didn't work out with Omameh being benched before ultimately getting cut. 

This is the second offensive line castaway that Jaguars VP of football operations and former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin has brought on the team this season. Ereck Flowers was signed after clearing waivers, and he has seen time in two games since the move. 

Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive  

As Eli Manning marched down the field late Monday night like it was still 2007, it felt like the entire Giants organization finally exhaled. There had been so much losing over the last two years, so much misery and controversy. But for a few minutes in Santa Clara, all of it slipped away.

That, obviously, was a good thing - even though at the same time their chances at the No. 1 overall pick in the next NFL Draft started slipping away, too.

One down, only seven to go.

After helping the Giants down the 49ers with two touchdown catches in Monday night's 27-23 win, WR Odell Beckham Jr. is one-eighth of the way to completing his lofty goal.

On Friday, Beckham said his second-half objective was to win the remaining games on the schedule for a hopeful playoff push.

Eli Manning completed the 36th game-winning drive of his career Monday night in San Francisco, but it was just the second over his last two seasons.

Despite the 37-year-old's recent decline, which has fueled talk about his benching and even retirement, at least a few key Giants players still believe in their quarterback.

"It frustrates me when people go at him," said Sterling Shepard, who hauled in Manning's third touchdown pass of the night in the final minute of their 27-23 victory over the 49ers. "I see that from the media, but you wouldn't want a better guy with the ball in his hands. You saw what he did on that last drive. When we need him, he's going to come through for us." (ESPN)

Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive

The Giants are going to take a look at rookie quarterback Kyle Lauletta at some point this season. They may even take a look at journeyman Alex Tanney. There's nothing Eli Manning can do to stop that from happening.

But maybe he did just enough on Monday night to hold off the transition for a few more weeks.

The 37-year-old quarterback only completed 19 of 31 passes for 188 yards, but that included three touchdown passes and an impressive, game-winning touchdown drive in the final 2:46 of the game. It included a beautiful 31-yard pass to tight end Evan Engram and a perfectly placed 3-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard with 53 seconds remaining to seal the Giants' 27-23 win over the San Francisco 49ers.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning orchestrated his 36th career game-winning drive in Monday's 27-23 comeback win over the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium.

"It meams a lot," Manning said. "That's what I told the guys this week. We've worked too hard not to be rewarded with wins. ... We just weren't able to get some of the outcomes or make the plays we needed to win. Today we were able to do that."

Manning, who threw for 188 yards and three touchdowns, capped a nine-play, 75-yard, penalty-ridden drive with a go-ahead touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard in the left side of the end zone as the Giants came off the bye week and won for the first time since Week 3.

The Giants are once again trending toward a top draft pick and this time it seems more likely that they will select a quarterback. 

While we do not know which quarterbacks will declare for the draft there are a handful that are on many NFL scouts' radars as the college season winds down. 

Here is a look at some of the potential quarterbacks in the 2019 NFL Draft and how they did this past weekend:

Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive

THE GAME 

The Giants (1-7) at the San Francisco 49ers (2-7) at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Monday, Nov. 12 at 8:15 p.m.

THE WEATHER

It'll start out as a nice night by the Bay, with temperatures near 70, but they will drop quickly, as they tend to do out there. Figure them to be in the 50s later in the game. No rain and light winds, too.

WHAT IT MEANS

This game is absolutely huge in the battle for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Of course, the 49ers already have their quarterback of the future in Jimmy Garoppolo, so it really wouldn't be a big deal for the Giants to be drafting behind them. Of course, the 49ers could trade down. Or the Giants could end up not drafting a quarterback. So really, in the end, it'll be better for them to lose.

Giants GM Dave Gettleman, assistant GM Kevin Abrams, and scout Jeremy Breit were on hand Saturday to watch potential 2019 Draft target Justin Herbert and Oregon play Utah, noted Andrew G. Haubner of KEZI9Sports.

In what was the 20-year-old Herbert's best start since Sept. 29, he completed 20 of 33 passes (60.6 percent) for 288 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in Oregon's 32-25 loss.

Overall this season, the 6' 6" Herbert has completed 193 of 325 passes (59.4 percent) for 2,621 yards with 25 touchdowns and six interceptions...

The NFL is monitoring the situation surrounding wildfires in California ahead of the Monday Night Football matchup between the Giants and 49ers.

As of Saturday, the NFL had no plans to change the time or location of the game, reports the Sacramento Bee. However, plans will ultimately be determined by whether or not the air quality improves.

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said on Saturday that he is aware of the possibility that there could be a change in plans. 

Giants head coach Pat Shurmur answered the big question coming out of the bye week of who he will start at quarterback against the 49ers on Monday Night Football. Despite schools of thought saying the Giants should see what rookie QB Kyle Lauletta can do with the team at 1-7, Shurmur said QB Eli Manning will continue to be the team's starter.

However, he did make sure to say that Manning has to play better. 

"I also explained to Eli that everybody needs to play better and as we go through this, it's important that we're not 'almost' in these games, we do what we have to do to get it over the top and win football games."

The Giants have cut G Patrick Omameh before he could finish his first season with the team, head coach Pat Shurmur said on Saturday.

GM Dave Gettleman was looking to solve the Giants' offensive line woes this past offseason, which led to Omameh signing a three-year, $15 million deal to be the team's new right guard. However, that quickly proved to be the wrong move, as the Giants having to bench him after Week 6. 

After claiming former Rams G Jamon Brown off waivers during the bye week, he could be seeing a start in his first game suiting up for Big Blue. Releasing Omameh before Week 10 also helps the Giants in terms of comp picks in next year's NFL Draft. 

Playoffs? Playoffs?

Odell Beckham Jr. was full of optimism on Friday as the Giants prepare for a Monday night matchup against the 49ers and said his goals for the second half of the season include winning the remainder of their games. 

"Win eight games, go 9-7 and get in the playoffs," he told reporters at his locker. "It's not an easy task, but that is the goal. Win every game and do anything I can to help that."

Eli Manning has been the Giants quarterback for the past 15 years, and his father says the two-time Super Bowl champion wants to remain a Giant.

When TMZ asked Archie Manning if he thought he would ever see Eli wearing another uniform, he responded, "I know he doesn't want to."

The 37-year-old Manning, who has started 222 of New York's last 223 games dating back to 2004, has been on the hot seat as Giants quarterback. Head coach Pat Shurmur only guaranteed his starting status for Monday's game against the 49ers but did not say who would definitely be under center Week 11 against Tampa Bay.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Landon Collins was once certain he'd spend his entire NFL career with the Giants, but after nearly being traded last week he's now not so sure anymore. There have been no talks about a long-term contract, and he's not even sure they'll give him the "franchise tag" -- a tag he absolutely doesn't want.

So as the Giants begin the second half of this lost season on Monday night, the 24-year-old Collins will be playing out the string in limbo. He wants to return to the Giants in 2019.

He's just not sure they still want him...

Giants RB Saquon Barkley was impressive in his first half-season in the NFL, but he's hungry to take his game to another level in the second half.

The 2018 first-round pick has racked up 1,016 yards from scrimmage -- including 519 rushing yards -- and scored five touchdowns thus far. He has shown a level of confidence not always seen by a rookie, but he still wants to work on trusting himself.

"That's one thing I need to get back to," he said. "I'm big on watching film, and sometimes it hurts myself because I over-calculate things or I overthink sometimes... so I try to trust myself, play the game, and play the position I've been playing since I was a little kid."

Coming out of the bye week, there was speculation that the Giants may switch direction in a 1-7 season, and experiment with rookie QB Kyle Lauletta in place of veteran QB Eli Manning. 

But head coach Pat Shurmur made it known on Tuesday that Manning will be the starter on Monday night when they face the 49ers this week.

However, Shurmur would not commit beyond Monday night. 

Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive - It's hard to imagine what was going through Kyle Lauletta's head as he sat in a jail last Tuesday. He had to know that his chance to be the starting quarterback of the Giants was coming. And he had to know there was a chance he just threw it all away.

What he did last week was dumb. There isn't a better description of the 22-year-old rookie's decision to defy police orders after he made an illegal turn in Weekhawken, N.J., as he was rushing to get to work. He knew he was already late and was going to be in trouble with his coaches. He had to know "resisting arrest" was only going to make things worse.

But the fact that he resisted anyway and got arrested, the fact that Lauletta embarrassed himself and the team, and the fact that he created an unnecessary bye-week distraction, can't interfere with what's in the best interest of the Giants' franchise and its future.

Giants head coach Pat Shurmur said Tuesday that the team will not suspend backup QB Kyle Lauletta after he was arrested last week for a traffic violation in Weehawken, N.J.

"I've spoken to him numerous times since the event, and we have internal ways of handling it but it will not include a suspension," Shurmur told reporters at the Giants' practice facility.

Shurmur said the 22-year-old Lauletta is "back to work and trying to get himself ready to play" after the Oct. 30 incident. Lauletta was arrested while he was driving to the East Rutherford facility. He was trying to make a right turn from the wrong lane and ignored a police officer's request to continue straight. While making the turn, Lauletta nearly hit the officer directing traffic.

SNY NFL insider Ralph Vacchiano explains that there are more glaring issues for the Giants' poor season than just Eli Manning.

The Giants may want to hang onto Landon Collins after all. 

Despite listening to trade offers for the Pro Bowl safety before last week's deadline, the Giants expect to work on a long-term extension and will use the franchise tag on Collins if no deal is reached, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. 

The news should quell any fears Giants fans may have had that the team was ready to part ways with Collins as they began selling off pieces of their defense last week. 

Michael Thomas brought back some bad memories for Michael Strahan on Sunday. 

The Saints wide receiver celebrated a late touchdown in New Orleans' 45-35 win over the Rams by pulling out a cell phone from underneath the goal post -- paying homage to when Joe Horn did the same thing to the Giants in 2003. 

Strahan, a member of that Giants defense and current analyst on Fox Sports, did not appreciate it. 

As the trade deadline passed last Tuesday, all NFL veterans are allowed to be waived. And the Cardinals used that to part ways with veteran QB Sam Bradford on Saturday. 

The former Rams No. 1 overall pick started the first three games of the season for the Cardinals, and wasn't able to secure a win. In turn, rookie Josh Rosen took over under center, and Bradford has been with an earpiece on the sideline ever since. 

So, quarterback-needy teams around the league have the option to pick up Bradford, who has seven NFL seasons under his belt. The Giants have issues with their own veteran quarterback in Eli Manning, and rookie Kyle Lauletta may have messed up their transition to starting him after the bye week due to his arrest earlier this week. 

Things certainly are not going as intended for this Giants team that currently sits at a lowly 1-7 in their bye week. And as they sit on Sunday to reflect, there are some that need to step it up if they don't want to continue this trend in the second half. 

Of course, that could be said for the entire team. The Giants rank 27th in scoring (18.8 points per game), and they convert only 40 percent of their red zone trips into touchdowns, which is second-to-last in that category. For the defense, they sit 18th in yards allowed per game (366.4), while allowing 25.6 points per game as well. 

But there are certain Giants that should be performing better that simply haven't hit the mark. And to change the tides in East Rutherford, the Giants need them to have a better second half...

Even Lawrence Taylor, perhaps the greatest Giants player of all-time, has seen enough of Eli Manning. 

The Hall of Fame linebacker weighed in on the 2018 Giants in an interview with Gary Myers of The Athletic and questioned the 37-year-old, two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback's passion for the game. 

"Eli is Eli," Taylor said. "He has been a very good quarterback throughout the league. Don't get me wrong - he's not my type of quarterback. I know he wants to win. I know he wants to perform. But hey, a guy that plays with no passion, is to me, is a waste of my time."

Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive

The Giants deserve an "F" for the first half of the season, and if there was a grade lower than "F," they'd deserve that too.

Everything they did in the offseason screamed "Win now!" And they weren't shy about saying they expected to win now either.

Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers square off against each other this week, so naturally there is some debate on which quarterback is better. 

Both are Super Bowl champions, both are MVPs and both were also dealt crushing losses by the Giants in the playoffs.

Former Giants safety Antrel Rolle -- a key figure of the Giants defense that defeated both quarterbacks en route to a Super Bowl championship in 2011 -- detailed the differences between the all-time greats in a recent Q & A with Sports Illustrated. 

San Francisco 49ers QB Nick Mullens took the NFL by storm in his debut on Thursday night against the Raiders but it is unknown at this point if the Giants will be tasked with stopping the 23-year-old. 

Forty-niners coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game that he is not ready to announce if Mullens has now permanently taken the job from C.J. Beathard -- who missed the game with an injured right wrist. 

"Yeah, definitely we'll consider it," he told reporters. "Definitely not thinking about that right now, but our whole team played very well. Nick definitely did."

After the 49ers beat the Raiders on Thursday night, the Giants are now in line for the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

At 1-7, the Giants are tied with the Raiders for the worst record in the NFL, however because they have a greater strength of schedule through eight games with Oakland, they don't hold the tiebreaker for the No. 1 pick.

Entering Thursday, the 49ers were 1-7 and the Raiders were 1-6, but Nick Mullens, who entered the 2018 season as San Francisco's third-string quarterback, led the 49ers by throwing for 262 yards and three touchdowns in his NFL debut.

The answer to the Giants' offensive problems is clear to Terrell Owens: Get Eli Manning off the field so that Odell Beckham Jr. can succeed.

"Odell can't perform because the quarterback is not performing. So, they should basically replace the quarterback," the Pro Football Hall of Famer told TMZ Sports this week. 

Owens took his criticism of Manning a step further, saying the quarterback gets special treatment for his Super Bowl rings and is in fact overrated.

Needing more offensive line help, the Giants nabbed former Rams G Jamon Brown off waivers on Wednesday, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. 

Brown was released Tuesday by the Rams, who he was drafted by in the third round back in 2015. While serving as a starter for all 16 games last season, he has played in five games this year with no starts. 

Brown was suspended for the first two games of the season due to an arrest during a traffic stop. Marijuana was found in his car, which violates the NFL's substance abuse policy. He pleaded guilty to speeding and aggravated DUI, and was sentenced to four days' house arrest as well as fines.

On Halloween, SNY presents 'Giants Things,' where Odell Beckham Jr. finds true happiness in the Upside Down.

Sometimes there's nothing scarier than New York sports.

In honor of Halloween, we've spun some famous horror flicks into movies about the Giants, Jets, Yankees and Nets.

Check out SNY's adaptations and movie posters below, along with the synopses.