The Giants can gain solace from the injury-filled and weakened NFC East all they want, but until they actually win a game, they have no business thinking they can compete in any division race. A “contender’’ label is earned, and so far all the Giants have earned is an 0-2 record and an identity as a team that blows leads and will fade down the stretch.

If the Giants fall behind against the Redskins on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium, they will hear it from the crowd. If they surge ahead, perhaps by 10 points heading into the fourth quarter, the restlessness and anxiety will be on high-alert, considering how they coughed up their first two games.

Sure, the Cowboys have been brutalized by injuries to their offensive stars, Tony Romo and Dez Bryant, and the Eagles are two-game flops for Chip Kelly. The Giants, though, are in no better shape than anyone.

“The division is in a little bit of turmoil right now with the injuries in Dallas, us being 0-2, the Eagles being 0-2, so it’s up for grabs. That’s the good thing,’’ linebacker Jon Beason said. “We know that it’s a big game, we have to have this one, it’s a must-win.’’

Playing four days after a 24-20 loss to the Falcons — after leading 20-10 after three quarters — did little to soothe the aching muscles but did help the ailing psyches move ahead.

“A good thing about a short week is you don’t have a whole lot of time to reflect on the past,’’ Eli Manning said.

The Giants rightfully can look at their first two games and detail the anatomy of their disastrous finishes. And they must know this: If they cannot beat the Redskins (1-1) at home, with their season already on the brink, who can they beat?

“I really do think we should be better than 0-2,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said. “I told them I wasn’t very pleased with the play as such, but I thought we could certainly, even under these circumstances, be 2-0.’’

They are 0-2, and history says they are pretty much history if they cannot figure out how to win. Since 1990, just three teams (1992 Chargers, 1995 Lions, 1998 Bills) have started out 0-3 and made it into the playoffs.

Redskins RG Brandon Scherff vs. Giants DTs Johnathan Hankins and Cullen Jenkins

The Giants were all set to take Scherff with the No. 9 pick in the draft — they had him rated as the top offensive lineman on the board — but the Redskins beat them to the punch, taking him surprisingly high (No. 5). Scherff struggled in the preseason, but he is a road-grader and occupies space on an offensive line that has produced the league’s No. 1 rushing team after two weeks. One of the few things the Giants have done well this season is stop the run — they have allowed just 3.0 yards per rushing attempt and 68 yards per game.

Hankins is a force in the middle of the defensive line, one of the few young rising stars on the Giants roster.

Captain my captain

The return of Jon Beason figures to enliven the spirits of a defensive unit that has been obliterated in the fourth quarters of the first two games. Not that rookie Uani’ Unga has been overmatched from a physical standpoint, but he does not possess Beason’s cat-and-mouse prowess when it comes to the mental duel with opposing quarterbacks.

When you face the Redskins, you need a top-flight middle linebacker to contend with a 1-2 punch at running back featuring Alfred Morris (180 yards in two games) and Matt Jones, a rookie from Florida who already has 151 rushing yards (averaging 6 yards per carry) and two touchdowns. Beason could provide a big lift.

“I think it can help,’’ linebacker Devon Kennard said. “Uani’s done a great job, so no discredit to him, but Beason is definitely a leader and controls the huddle and he’s a leader on this team, he’s a captain and everybody looks up to him. I think having him out there will be a help.’’

Until Eli Manning sheds these mystifying late-game funks and gets back to being good ol’ reliable Eli, there are going to be concerns about the franchise quarterback — concerns that were not supposed to be written into the script for 2015. Manning has not been at his best in his 21 starts against the Redskins — his passer rating of 79.5 is lower than his career mark of 82.4. Yet Manning is 15-6 against the Redskins — with a four-game winning streak — including last season’s rare blowout victory at FedEx Field.

The Giants are supposed to have a significant advantage at quarterback here, going up against Kirk Cousins — a backup until the Redskins pulled the plug on the Robert Griffin III era. Manning has been fine, until crunch time, and the Giants cannot afford lapses from their highest-paid and highest-profile player. At least there is this: Manning has not thrown an interception in the first two games of a season for the first time in his 11 years as the opening-day starter.

The Giants swept the Redskins in 2014 and they did it with certain players rising up.

“Larry Donnell had three [touchdowns] the first time we played them here at our place, and then we covered Larry Donnell and we didn’t cover Odell Beckham,’’ Redskins coach Jay Gruden said. “They give us their share of problems, that’s for sure.’’

After Donnell erupted for a three-TD performance in the first meeting, Beckham notched three TDs in a 12-reception game as the Giants also won the rematch. That sort of offensive eruption has been missing in the first two games, other than last week’s 67-yard Beckham catch-and-run scoring sprint.

It has been a lackluster start to the season for Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams, the two returning running backs, and while newcomer Shane Vereen has been the expected revelation out of the backfield as a pass-catcher, he has is averaging only 3.7 yards per rushing attempt. Jennings is at 2.9 and Williams’ 4.8-yard average is misleading, as he gained 35 yards on one burst, leaving him with 22 yards on his other 11 carries.

The run blocking up front has been shaky. The Giants last week played without tight end Daniel Fells, and his absence was felt, as he is far and away the best blocking tight end on the roster — far better than the wildly inconsistent Donnell. Fells is coming off a foot injury and his return could help jump-start a running attack that seems to lack much bite.

If they can force Kirk Cousins to beat them, it is advantage Giants, but that means they get a lead and stop the run. Giants are desperate and Redskins are on the road in a short week, no easy task. But until the Giants actually put forth a credible fourth-quarter effort, we will take the wait-and-see approach.

Redskins 24, Giants 17