Play-calling has improved

The argument is immediately going to be made that the Giants looked better against “bad teams” (see: Dolphins, Redskins) over the last two weeks, and on some level, that’s a factual statement. But it’s not as if the Giants haven’t performed poorly against bad teams in the past (see: Jets, Lions, Cardinals). That’s also a factual statement.

The Giants have won back-to-back games they likely would have lost early this year, and they’ve done so with much more creative play-calling and necessary adjustments being made at halftime.

Too little, too late? Maybe, maybe not. We’ll see after Week 17 and a meeting with the Eagles.

However that final game plays out, the fact remains — Shurmur & Co. did a substantially better job over the last two weeks than they have at any other point this season. Their gameplans were sound, their opening series were scripted to perfection, their halftime adjustments were on point and we saw some creative plays designed to the talents on the team (hello, Da’Mari Scott).

Even Week 14 against the Eagles could be viewed as a step in the right direction despite the second-half collapse.

It’s been a rough season, but Shurmur has the arrow pointing up in recent weeks. There’s no way around that.