TAMPA, Fla. — Trying to take the measure of the Giants’ season is like watching a leaf blow across a windswept landscape. Swiftly, the Giants have ascended, climbing to startling heights, and just as suddenly they have plummeted, grimacing through stomach-churning nose dives.
Often, all of that has happened in the course of one game.
It was more of the same in the Giants’ 32-18 roller coaster of a victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers here Sunday.
But just past the midpoint of the team’s schedule, as the N.F.L.’s fall season lurches toward the drive for winter playoff berths, the Giants (5-4) have held their grasp on first place in the N.