Giants Embracing Underdog Role Despite 3-1 Start

The New York Giants are embracing the role of underdog even while they sit atop the NFC East.

The Giants will be underdogs for the fourth time in five games Sunday, and they say that is keeping them humble amid a 3-1 start

The Giants are unbeaten at home, despite being an underdog in two of those three games, and will not be favored to win again this week against the Washington Commanders.

Giants Remaining ‘Humble’ as ‘Underdogs Every Week’

Pundits have been slow to buy into the Giants’ success, especially with backup quarterback Jameis Winston assuming the starting position after Jaxson Dart’s season-ending knee injury in Week 2.

The Giants were a 2.5-point home underdog against the Arizona Cardinals, who entered with a 1-2 record on the heels of their 3-14 season in 2025.

This week, the Giants are again about a three-point underdog on the road against the NFC East rival Commanders (1-3). Washington is coming off a 17-point loss to the Indianapolis Colts in London last Sunday.

“We’re always humble. We’re underdogs every week,” cornerback Greg Newsome II said. “That’s enough humbling for us. We’ve got to continue going 1-0 each week. We don’t get too high, we don’t get too low. It’s a long season, so it’s great to be 3-1, but we’ve got a lot of football left to play.”

The naysayers are keeping the Giants from getting caught up in their early-season success, but so too is the Giants’ veteran core who knows how quickly things can turn in the NFL.

As Newsome put it, “3-1 can easily turn into 3-14. … If you’re not humble, you will get humbled. We have to continue to have that [underdog] mindset that we had in the beginning of the season, and we’re going to carry it the entire way.”

The Giants ‘Focusing on’ the Commanders

The Giants celebrated their 36-24 win over Arizona, but they’re on to Washington.

“We just focus on the next opponent,” Newsome said. “We don’t really care too much about the last game. It’s in the past, so now we’ve got to find a way to go 1-0 this week.”

The Giants are preparing for the Commanders to have starting quarterback Jayden Daniels back Sunday, and Washington won its only home game at Northwest Stadium by two points against the Seattle Seahawks. Both are reasons why the Commanders are favored.

Still, Newsome and the Giants are focused on proving the nonbelievers wrong yet again.

“We don’t really care what the outside world believes, we know what we have on this team,” Newsome said. “We know what we’re all about, so at the end of the day, no matter who we play, we just have to go out there and just play to the best of our ability and try to find a way to go 1-0.”