“We are 6-3; I haven’t been 6-3 since I have been here, so this is a good feeling.” Odell Beckham after Giants win over Bengals Monday night. Photo by TJ Engler / contrastphotography.com

The New York Giants are 6-3 after their 21-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football.
After three consecutive losing seasons that were marked by epic collapses late in game, the Giants are finally winning some of these games.

For several players this is uncharted waters as professionals.

Wide receiver Odell Beckham says he he started setting the bar higher for himself and even looked at other sports for motivation to reach and exceed his expectations.

“I set the bar high for myself. I kind of had some late inspiration,” said Beckham, who had 10 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. “I went to the UFC fight and I went there to watch (Conor) McGregor and just a guy who is very strong in his beliefs and sure enough, he backs it up every time. Just sitting there watching him do his thing gave me more motivation. I had seen that I needed however many yards it was to break that record, so really that stuff is kind of secondary right now. We are 6-3; I haven’t been 6-3 since I have been here, so this is a good feeling.”

With his touchdown Monday night, Beckham has scored 31 in his young career, breaking a tie with Antonio Brown for most in the NFL during that time.

Center Weston Richburg said he could relate to Beckham with regards to Big Blue’s 6-3 record. He said the Giants will not wilt under their own success.

“I don’t think I have either,” Richburg said of being 6-3. “I don’t think we’ll have a problem with that. We have guys in here who are hungry, who understand what’s at stake and understand the situation we’re in. We’re ready for it.”

The Giants offensive line has performed well despite losing Justin Pugh in a game against Philadelphia. They have used Brett Jones and John Jerry in his place and still rushed for 131 yards in the win.
Richburg said the unit had not trouble with the new faces.

“We spend a lot of time together anyway,” Richburg said. “I think once you throw a guy in there it’s not that hard to communicate and get everything on the same page.”

Richburg said that chemistry helps keep it all business as usual.

“We just come out every week and do our jobs and makes sure we’re doing everything we can to make happen,” Richburg said. “Tonight it happened, we had to shuffle some guys around, they all did great jobs coming in and doing what they were supposed to do.”

Even with their record, the Giants are still in second place in the NFC East. The Dallas Cowboys are on top with an 8-1 record, the Giants are followed by Washington at 5-3-1 and the Eagles are still in it with a 5-4 record.

In 2015, none of the teams in the NFC East even had a winning record until the last two weeks of the season, The Redskins finished on top with the minimum 9-7 record.

“It’s a lot better than it was last year,” Richburg said with a laugh. “I think it changes each year. [The NFC East] is very competitive this year. So it’s going to be crucial for us going down the second half of the season to win games.”

It will be for all the NFC East teams.

Follow Al Thompson on Twitter @thompsoniii