by Steve Serby , The New York Post

Osi Umenyiora: "This is a situation the Giants are comfortable in right here. We have our backs against the wall, we always come out swinging."

Shaun O'Hara: "We've proven we can be champions with this group. We'll get through this. We've been through tough times before."

Antonio Pierce: "This team is capable of winning a championship."

The 2007 Giants lost 41-17 in Minnesota to fall to 7-4, and still won a Super Bowl. That team had Plaxico Burress and Michael Strahan and Steve Spagnuolo, and all the right intangibles.

Alas, there is something missing on these 2009 Giants , who have their bye this week. They aren't Road Warriors anymore, and Giants Stadium is no longer a House of Pain. They find ways to lose and have lost their killer instinct and their nerve. Remember Strahan's "We stomped you out?" at City Hall? A distant memory indeed.

It ain't over 'til it's over, and all that, and Nostradamus would have difficulty handicapping this NFL, but here is what I believe awaits the Bad News Giants :

Mission: Impossible.

One Team . . . One Chance, is now One Team . . . Seven Chances.

Pierce: "A lot can change. We've seen it happen before. It's not all over. We're gonna take it one game at a time."

Talk Is Cheap, Play the Games:

* FALCONS: RB Michael Turner has rounded back into form, gashing the Saints for 151 yards and the Redskins for 166 yards and two TDs. QB Matt Ryan has had a bit of a sophomore jinx, but always has a chance to be Matty Ice with targets such as Roddy White and TE Tony Gonzalez. "We're gonna come back after this bye week and just focus on winning one game," O'Hara said.

* At BRONCOS: A Thursday night game that comes four days after Denver's critical divisional game at home against the Chargers, so maybe the Giants can steal this one. Kyle Orton doesn't scare you (Brandon Marshall does), but Mike Nolan has brought back the Orange Crush (Elvis Dumervil, D.J. Williams and old nemesis Brian Dawkins). "We gotta have a great second half of the season," Eli Manning said.

* COWBOYS: They undoubtedly feel like Road Warriors after stunning the Eagles at the Linc. Tony Romo is having fun again, mostly because burner Miles Austin has made him forget T.O. And who among us doesn't have visions of TE Jason Witten finding the open holes in the Giants' secondary? Oh, and Marion Barber is running like a barbarian again. "The leader in our division has six wins," Tom Coughlin said. "Philadelphia has five."

* Eagles: They'll be fighting for their playoff lives too, and own a key psychological edge: They eliminated the Giants from the playoffs at Giants Stadium last January, and dominated them 40-17 two Sundays ago. "We can still win the division," Pierce said.

* At Redskins: At the end of a season without reason in Snyderville, this Monday Nighter becomes the Redskins' Super Bowl. By this time, Daniel Snyder himself might be calling the plays for poor Jim Zorn. Still, Clinton Portis is on his last legs, and Jason C a m p b e l l ought to be a sight for sore eyes. "We've gotta find a way to win a game besides finding a way to lose it," Pierce said.

* PA N THERS: Turnover machine Jake Delhomme is still the quarterback, which devalues The Other Steve Smith, and OLB Thomas Davis (knee) is gone. But DeAngelo Williams right now looks like the best back in the league, Adrian Peterson notwithstanding. "It's all about how you finish and how you play in the playoffs that really matters," O'Hara said.

* At Vikings: If Brett Favre's arm hasn't fallen off, if the Purple People Eaters haven't wrapped up a No. 1 or No. 2 seed, then uhoh. If Manning falls behind (and how exactly does Bill Sheridan, who was exonerated by Coughlin for calling four pressures on the fateful last drive, plan on stopping All Day, and the electric Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin?), here comes Jared Allen. "These are all teams we can beat," Umenyiora said. "These are all teams we have beaten. Nobody wants our season to end early."

My crystal ball reads 9-7.

Wait 'Til Next Year.

Countdown to the end

The Giants , 5-4 after their last-minute 21-20 loss to the Chargers on Sunday, face a daunting task the rest of the way if they want to reach the postseason for the fifth straight season. Here's a look at their remaining schedule:

*-Times subject to change

DATE OPP (RECORD) TIME

Nov. 15 BYE

Nov. 22 ATL (5-3) *1:00 p.m.

Nov. 26 at DEN (6-2) 8:20 p.m.

Dec. 6 DAL (6-2) *4:05 p.m.

DATE OPP (RECORD) TIME

Dec. 13 PHI (5-3) *8:20 p.m.

Dec. 21 at WAS (2-6) 8:30 p.m.

Dec. 27 CAR (3-5) *1:00 p.m.

Jan. 3 at MIN (7-1) *1:00 p.m.

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