Abdul Carter Already Moving on From First Giants Win

The weekend, of course, wasn't a total loss for Carter, who was on the right end of an NFL decision for the first time on Sunday afternoon when the Giants earned a 21-18 upset of the Los Angeles Chargers.

While there's a lingering sense of metropolitan joy stemming from that triumph, Carter isn't dwelling on the instantly-recent past, focused only on the second addition to that collection.

"We've got to move on from Sunday. We've got to focus on this week, focus on practice today, practice tomorrow, getting ready for [Week 5 opponent] New Orleans," Carter said.

"We had a good game, but, like I said, we've got to move on, we've got to be consistent, we've got to work hard at practice today, work hard at practice tomorrow, and just keep being consistent week in and week out."

There's a golden, if not dangerous, opportunity for the Giants to do that: New York will go for its first instance of consecutive victories when it visits the Big Easy to take on the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS).

The Saints (0-4) are one of three imperfect teams left on the NFL ledger, though they gave the undefeated Buffalo Bills a run for their money last weekend.

It thus sets up what might be one of the closest things the modern Giants (1-3) could have to the de facto privilege of a trap game, one that will partly rely on how the defense builds on what transpired last week.

New York has not won consecutive games since putting up a three-game tally in December 2023. Considering the road ahead (two meetings with the Philadelphia Eagles sandwich an interconference clash with the Denver Broncos), this might be the best opportunity they get to end that drought.

The group forced two turnovers against the Chargers after mustering only one in its first three showings, the first of which created one of the most viral happenings of the year through Dexter Lawrence's interception and subsequent runback.

Carter, however, wants the Giants to remember their shortcomings the most as they press forward, claiming it will help the unit set a consistent standard as it tries to establish some last forward momentum.

"I take pride in getting better week in and week out, so each week I watch the tape. We obviously watch the tape as a defense, as a unit, then just find the little stuff that we did badly on and improve on it for the next week," Carter said.

"We already know what we're capable of, so us going out there and doing that, that's what we're supposed to do. That's our standard, so we're familiar with it. As long as we stop the run and be able to rush the passer, we know what we can do."