New York Giants cannot be overconfident against Chicago Bears 2
Nov 14, 2016; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard (87) celebrates his touchdown during the second half at MetLife Stadium. The Giants defeated the Bengals 21-20. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Sometimes, handling success is the most difficult thing for a team to handle because it can overconfidence. That is what the New York Giants are dealing with this week as they take on the 2-7 Chicago Bears Sunday at MetLife stadium.

These two teams are going in completely different directions. The New York Giants are riding a four game winning streak while the Chicago Bears have lost four out of their last five games and will be without their best receiver Alshon Jeffery, due to suspension.

There has also been reports of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler having lost support of this teammates.

With the way the Giants have played over the past month and the way the Bears are in disarray, it would be easy for Giants to overlook the Bears. In fact, after their win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night, Odell Beckham Jr. talked about how the Giants are looking forward to playing in the Super Bowl rather than playing the Bears on Sunday.

The Giants are heavy favorites to beat the Bears and should win their fifth straight game. However, they cannot afford to overlook them because a loss could be devastating to their playoff chances.

If the season ended today the Giants would be the fifth seed in the playoffs. But if they were to lose on Sunday, then the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings would move ahead of the Giants if they both win their games on Sunday. It would also be the Giants fourth loss in the conference which would hurt them in tie breaker scenarios.

This is why head coach Ben McAdoo must make sure his team maintains their focus and is not overconfident heading into this game. A case could be made that being overconfident has already hurt the Giants this year when they lost at home to the winless Redskins in Week 3.

The Giants have shown this year that they can handle tough situations this season by winning six games that were decided by seven points or less. Now they must not let their success get to their heads and think they can just show up and come away with a win on Sunday.

Jason's first love was football while growing up in northern New Jersey. For the past three years, he has covered the New York Giants, as well as several boxing events along the East Coast.