The Giants are the unlikeliest of 10-4 teams. They find themselves with the NFC's second-best record, behind only the 12-2 Cowboys, by virtue of a top-flight defense and a bottom-third offense. It's a peculiar mix, particularly with Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. playing every game, but a suspect offensive line has thrown a monkey wrench into what was supposed to be an efficient, balanced attack.

Instead, what we're left with is an O-line that ranks 28th in run blocking, according to Football Outsiders' metrics, and in that same vicinity when it comes to yards per drive (27. 9 yards, which is good for 28th), points per drive (1.6, 28th), plays per drive (5.4, 29th) and time of possession per drive (2:20, 31st).

And one of the few silver linings -- the offensive line ranking third in pass protection -- is strictly a function of Manning wasting little time in the pocket before firing the ball to would-be pass catchers, whether they're open or not. The results: Manning has played well below replacement-level, ranking 20th in QB value, which is just behind Trevor Siemian and just ahead of Blake Bortles. We're guessing this won't come up during Manning's Hall of Fame speech.

Still, despite all this, the Giants continue to find ways to win. In fact, since the Week 5 loss to the Packers that dropped them to 2-3, New York has won eight of nine games, the only loss coming to the resurgent Steelers back in Week 13. Since then, the Giants beat the Cowboys (for the season sweep) and then dispensed with the NFC North-leading Lions.

Against Dallas, Manning was just 17 of 28 for 193 yards, and had three turnovers. It wasn't much different than what we'd seen in the previous four months -- the defense did the heavy lifting and the offense enjoyed the ride. But against Detroit, Manning had one of his best games of the year, completing 20 of 28 attempts for 201 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers. Beckham and rookie Sterling Shepard were the leading receivers, combining for 10 catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns, including this Beckham special:

For the season, Beckham has 85 catches for 1,173 yards and 10 touchdowns, and that lost slap fight with the kicking net seems like a distant memory.

So what if the Giants' offense has finally found its footing? For starters, the timing's great, what with the playoffs looming. But even if this group remains, well, average, reasons for optimism remain. Just look to 2007; the Giants finished 10-6, backdoored their way into a wild-card spot, and promptly reeled off four straight postseason wins, including that improbable Super Bowl victory over the 18-0 Patriots.

That Giants outfit had the 18th-ranked offense and the 13th-ranked defense during the regular season right before getting red hot. Put another way: In a day and age where offense wins championships, it may be the Giants' throwback defense, which currently ranks fourth, that is responsible for any deep playoff runs.

Not surprisingly, they're OK with that burden.

"Our mindset is to stop the opponent, to not let them score," said Landon Collins, the Giants' second-year, playmaking safety who has a legit case for Defensive Player of the Year. "You obviously want to be one of the top defenses in the league, but our mindset is, 'Get a stop on third down. Get a stop. Get our offense back on the field in good field position.'"

Collins is a homegrown talent, drafted in the second round in 2015, but the Giants are one of the rare examples of an organization whose drunken-sailor offseason spending spree paid immediate dividends. The highest-priced new faces include defensive tackle Damon Harrison (5 years, $46 million), cornerback Janoris Jenkins (5 years, $62 million) and defensive end Olivier Vernon (5 years, $85 million).

According to Pro Football Focus' metrics, the Giants' highest-graded players this season are, in order: Vernon, Jason Pierre-Paul, Harrison, Collins and Jenkins.

It's not often we say this about big-money free-agent deals, but that's money well spent.

"We just have a relentless mentality," said cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who signed a five-year, $35 million deal with the team in 2014. "Nobody wants to be the guy who goes out and lets down the team. That's the way we're going right now, and that's special."

10 minutes you won't get back

On the latest podcast, we're joined by colleague Will Brinson to talk about the final 'TNF' game of the season, and whether the Giants or the Packers are the bigger threat to the Cowboys.

About the Eagles and their franchise quarterback ...

Remember back in late September, when the Eagles moved to 3-0 after dominating the Steelers, had the league's best defense and looked like geniuses for trading up to the No. 2 pick to grab quarterback Carson Wentz?

Wentz, the rookie from North Dakota State who had been named the starter less than two weeks before the regular season, didn't have an adjustment period, despite the lack of first-team reps, or the fact that he was coming from an FCS program. In those first three games, he completed 65 percent of his passes for 669 yards, five touchdowns and exactly zero interceptions. Wentz was calling audibles before the snap, making good decisions after the snap, and throwing with the type of poise and accuracy of some grizzled veteran who had seen everything at least twice.

It was all enough to make you wonder why the Browns traded out of that No. 2 pick and allowed the Eagles the chance to take Wentz. But NFL seasons are long; three months later, Wentz looks every bit the rookie quarterback. His motion has gone from compact to elongated, and he has a lower completion percentage and a higher percentage of interceptions to show for it.

Earlier this month, Yahoo.com's Charles Robinson spoke to personnel evaluators about Wentz's throwing style.

"[The] ball is dropped down, turned out, then looped back around," the evaluator said. "With his long arms and that motion, [it's] very hard to be accurate. Especially on the move. ... [The] inability to get the ball out quick and on time is key."

Robinson added:

The motion was also something that concerned the Browns in their scouting evaluations of Wentz, prior to their trading of the No. 2 overall pick to the Eagles. A Browns source told Yahoo Sports Wentz's motion was noted in draft evaluations -- though he also maintained trading the No. 2 pick was more about netting draft picks than not liking Wentz.

Interestingly, a league source told Yahoo Sports that restyling Wentz's throwing motion was an important bullet point on the Eagles' offseason docket, but that the team was able to make only marginal progress before the start of the regular season.

Of course, this isn't all on Wentz. Because if that was the case, first-year coach Doug Pederson wouldn't have to answer questions about benching the rookie for health and safety reasons. Heading into last Sunday's game against the top-ranked Ravens' defense, Wentz had been sacked 30 times and hit on 71 other occasions, both top-10 in the league. It was enough for the media to wonder if the Eagles might give Wentz the game off in the name of protecting the franchise's future.

"Not at all," Pederson said at the time, via ESPN.com. "I'm a big believer in we finish this thing out the right way, we play our guys, play the guys that have been there all season long. And he's been a big part of that. I don't want to necessarily do that right now with him. I don't want to send that type of message not only to him but to the team. He's a leader and we go with the guys that have battled and got us to this point."

Worth noting: Despite glaring issues along the offensive line, Wentz was sacked just once and hit twice in Baltimore, a game the Eagles lost in the most commendable way: Down one with seconds left, they went for two.

Also worth noting: Wentz was not good when he faced the Giants in Week 9. He finished 27 of 47 for 364 yards and two airmailed interceptions in a game the Eagles lost, 28-23.

The issue?

"I think some of it is the fact that he's maybe a little bit on his back foot, not following through -- there are some things mechanically that obviously will keep the ball high," Pederson said at the time. "It could be maybe a defender underneath the throw, where he's got to keep it a little bit higher ---all things that are fixable, correctable, as we move forward."

Something to keep an eye on Thursday night.

It's (the final) Color Rush game, y'all!

Behold:

"This is something that the Giants fans have been waiting for. I'd like to say an modern update of a timeless '80s era," Giants equipment director Joe Skiba told the team's website back in September.

Added bonus for Giants' fans: Retro helmets, too!

They said it

Deflategate made its way back into the news earlier this month after the Giants reportedly notified the NFL that the Steelers used under-inflated footballs during their Week 13 matchup. The league promptly issued a statement, nothing else came of it, and we all moved on. Then news broke that the Giants were facing a fine for illegally using walkie-talkies during their Week 14 game.

As you might imagine, all the extracurricular stuff caught the attention of the Patriots, who were severely punished -- including a Tom Brady four-game suspension -- for whatever their role was in the original Deflategate.

"I think the thing that was the most bothersome to us was when ownership or senior management or coaches at other teams would opine on our guilt or innocence without knowing or understanding the facts," Patriots president Jonathan Kraft told 98.5 The Sports Hub on Sunday. "I'm not going to be guilty of doing the same. I don't know the facts of what transpired last weekend, so it's hard for me to opine on that."

Kraft then said that the Patriots didn't feel the NFL's investigation "was an appropriate process and science wasn't paid attention to," adding that he was "pretty sure no owners, senior management person or head coach read the entire Wells Report or Wells Report in context."

In related news: On Tuesday we learned that the NFL fined the Giants $150,000 and coach Ben McAdoo $50,000 more for illegal walkie-talkie usage -- plus have their fourth-round pick in the coming draft moved to the back end of that round, which, to most rational observers, was much more egregious than advantages gained by taking the air out of the football.

'TNF' on Twitter

Thursday's game will be on Twitter and you'll be able to stream it here: tnf.twitter.com. You can use your mobile device or tablet with the NFL Network app. Kickoff is at 8:25 p.m. ET.

In addition to live streaming, the NFL-Twitter partnership also includes in-game highlights from"Thursday Night Football" and pregame Periscope broadcasts from players and teams.

This will be the final NFL-Twitter showing on the 2016 TNF schedule.

Be sure to CBSSports.com's Pro Football Rundown for all the latest NFL news and commentary.