“Meaningless games’’ is not exactly an oxymoron, but it might as well be. The Giants have five games remaining in a 2013 season, which will very likely produce their first losing record since 2004 when Tom Coughlin arrived and force-fed a rookie quarterback, Eli Manning, onto the field to take his lumps.
There’s often nothing riveting in games devoid of any realistic playoff implications, but that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of significance. Five games is a long stretch in an NFL season and there are plenty of players who will be fighting for their professional football lives, starting Sunday night against the sagging Redskins.
Here is The Post’s Ten To Watch, a look at those needing to show something to earn a return ticket or a starting role for next season:
KEVIN BOOTHE: He’s a solid left guard and whenever he’s asked to shift over to center, even in the middle of a game, he has no problem. Tom Coughlin loves his smarts. There’s not much chance injury-riddled David Baas returns (especially not at his 2014 salary of $4.75 million) and with Jim Cordle put on injured reserve Tuesday, this is a five-game audition for Boothe, an impending free agent, to return as the starting center.
RUEBEN RANDLE: Athletically, there’s no doubt he’s a first-rate talent, but there are still some rough edges to his game. His showing down the stretch could convince the Giants one way or the other if he’s starting material and Hakeem Nicks’ replacement. If he is, he’s cheap ($665,000) labor.
JUSTIN TUCK: Contract is up after this season. He wants to retire a Giant, but not yet. A team captain, Tuck won’t command big money in free agency and probably would accept less to stay. He’s been a solid, productive player in his ninth season with the Giants, but he’s not the force he one was; a flourish to the finish would help.
TERRELL THOMAS: He’s proving he can handle the grind of a season on his thrice-repaired right knee, but his deal is up and is he a starting cornerback or a slot corner? He might never rise again to the budding star status he showed in 2009 and 2010, but he’s already overcome so much he cannot be discounted.
JON BEASON: One-year stopgap or long-term answer at middle linebacker? Beason, with no contract for next season, is playing for his Giants future and he needs to continue to make plays, lead and inspire to seal the deal on his return.
ANDRE BROWN: Is set to become an unrestricted free agent, and if the last three weeks is any indication he can be a No. 1 running back — not a star but a tough, workmanlike grinder. The question with Brown is always his durability; can he stay healthy?
JAMES BREWER: With the loss of Cordle, Brewer gets dusted off again and has a five-game audition to show the investment (fourth-round pick in 2011) was not a big mistake. He was not good in the season-opener at Dallas in his first career NFL start, but played better in his emergency 45 snaps at left guard in the rematch with the Cowboys. Maybe the light goes on and he’s an inexpensive ($650,000) option in 2014.
WILL HILL: He never comes off the field, but for now he is still a more impressive athlete than he is a complete safety. If he keeps his life in order, he will be a price-fixed ($570,000) part of the defensive puzzle, especially with Stevie Brown coming off reconstructive knee surgery and a free agent to be.
BRANDON MYERS: All indications are this is another one-and-done at tight end for the Giants. His four-year, $14.25 million deal is a mirage, as the last three years are voidable and there’s no way he’s getting the $4 million listed on the books for 2014. He has shown some signs lately so perhaps he’s not a goner just yet.
HAKEEM NICKS: Saved the best for last. A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Is he dogging it heading into free agency, has he lost something from a physical standpoint? Is he disgruntled? Does he want in? Does he want out? It has been a terrible contract year for Nicks and what he does this final five weeks could trigger the ultimate thumbs up or down.
Quit is a four-letter word
It would be some story if any of the Giants came out and said “I’m quitting in the last five games,’’ or “Yeah, I think the team is going to check out.’’ Dutifully, Tom Coughlin and his players ever since the crushing 24-21 loss to the Cowboys have promised they will fight to the finish. Sometimes that happens in these situations, often it does not.
Antrel Rolle continued to stoke the competitive fire when he described his team as “the fighting Giants’’ during Tuesday’s weekly WFAN radio spot.
“We will continue to fight,’’ said Rolle, who added he is “overly confident’’ there will be no letdown during what will be a no-playoff-incentive stretch run.
Unhappy returns
The Giants believed they could be a top-10 defense this season, and only seven teams have allowed fewer than the 23 touchdowns scored against their defense. The defensive numbers, though, have been knocked off kilter by the nine touchdowns given up by what the Elias Sports Bureau calls “miscellaneous’’ touchdowns. Giants fans no doubt call them something less printable.
There have been three interceptions of Eli Manning returned for touchdowns, three fumbles recovered and returned for touchdowns and three punts brought back for touchdowns. It is the most “miscellaneous’’ touchdowns allowed in any season by the Giants and the most this year given up in the NFL; the Texans have allowed eight.
You can look no further than these gift points as the reason for falling out of playoff attention. The Giants allowed three “miscellaneous’’ touchdowns in the two games against the Cowboys and lost those games by five and three points.