Matchup of division leaders: Seahawks vs Giants. The Giants?

In this strangest of NFL seasons in this weirdest of years, here’s a matchup of division leaders you wouldn’t expect: Seattle hosting the New York Giants.

Certainly, the Seahawks on top of the tough NFC West is no stretch. They are 8-3, have a dynamic offense and improving defense, and plenty of pedigree under coach Pete Carroll. It’s their opponent that makes little sense — except in 2020.

New York is 4-7, has yet to beat a team with a winning record, and enters the most difficult portion of its schedule. Yet the Giants are tied atop the awful NFC East with Washington, which it has beaten twice.

“If you win your division, you win your division,” Carroll says, and he knows: Seattle went 7-9 in 2010 and won the NFC West, then beat New Orleans in a playoff game. “That’s the way it was then, that’s the way it is now, and I don’t think there’s any problem with it. Whoever comes out of that division, the division champ, whoever plays them better look out. There’s a lot going on that side of it in what you want to prove and how you want to go about it.”

The Giants’ defense has played well during a three-game win streak, but starting quarterback Daniel Jones has a hamstring issue and might sit in favor of Colt McCoy.

“Just being prepared, that’s the name of the game,” McCoy says. “That’s why the Giants brought me here. I think that’s the expectation. If your number is called, whether it’s quarterback, receiver, on the other side of the ball on defense, when you have to step up, you have to step up. I just have to be mentally prepared for whatever happens.”