Don’t dare do it.

Do not say it. Better you do not even think it.

Keep “the Giants’’ and “first place’’ out of your mouth, your thoughts and your sentence structure. Do not be tempted by what is going on beyond their borders. Do not allow the squalor around the Giants to drag you into this discussion. It is unwise. It is unhealthy. It is inappropriate.

It is also unavoidable.

No team that has a “zero’’ at the start of its record a month into a season has any business looking anywhere but at the image staring back at them in the mirror. Out the window, you can see that the neighbor’s yard is an unkempt mess. Pipe down until your own disheveled property is not the worst eyesore on the block.

The Giants at 0-4 are buried, as far as anything having to do with the playoffs (the 1992 Chargers would like to have a word with you) unless they win the NFC East. Say what?

The distance between the last-place Giants, the first place Eagles (1-2-1) and the second- and third-place Cowboys and Washington (both 1-3) make this an arithmetic discussion more than a reality-based observation. If the Giants keep up this pace on defense (giving up 24 points a game) and, especially if the 17-9 loss to the Rams is a sign of things to come, they will win a few games. But if they keep up this pace on offense (scoring 11.8 points a game), they will be in danger of losing every time they step on the field.

Can it be, though, that the Giants have ’em right where they want ’em?

It is time to take a crack at the NFC East, which means it could be a new lease on football life for the team wallowing as the least of the least.

Joe Judge did not concede anything heading into his first season as head coach, but he did view the first four games as a sort of petri dish, realizing he knew so little about his players that experimentation needed to happen. By Week 5, when the Giants finally opened up their division schedule, evaluation based on trial and error figured to give Judge the knowledge he needed to get a handle on what this roster can and cannot do.

“I think it’s important for us [this] week as we start our division run that we play our best football,’’ Judge said, adding, “Obviously, we’re going through a little tough stretch right now with the division.’’

Calling what has gone down in the division “a little tough stretch’’ is akin to referring to Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence as “an interesting quarterback prospect for the Giants and Jets to perhaps ponder.’’

It took the Eagles four weeks to break into the win column. If not for a late meltdown (what else is new?) by the Falcons and a fortuitous onside kick, the defenseless Cowboys would be 0-4. Washington after an opening-day victory has reverted to form with a three-game losing skid.

The Giants had the ball with a chance to win in Chicago in Week 2 and had the ball with a chance to pull even at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., in Week 4. They could not do it and are the only winless team in what after one month is the worst division in the league. It has been 15 years since an NFL team sat atop a division with one win this late in a season.

The next three games for the Giants are division games: At the Cowboys on Sunday (with about 25,000 fans supposedly socially distanced at AT&T Stadium), at home against Washington and at the Eagles. Five of the next six are in the division. At the Week 11 bye, we will all know if the Giants are the dregs of the dregs or if they can compete in a division that, after four weeks, is 2-11-1 against the rest of the league.

“Look, every game is important in the NFL, but I think it’s no secret when it comes to the NFL it’s about your division to start with,’’ Judge said Monday. “We have to do a good job of coming out here and being ready to roll. Look, it’s gonna be tough games, it’s not gonna be any easy opponents out here.’’

Nothing is easy for these Giants. But what comes next, inside the NFC East, is far from impossible. First things first. The Giants have to win a game. Just one. And then we can revisit this whole division thing.

— Everyone knew Golden Tate had extremely personal issues with Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey (Tate’s sister has two children with Ramsey and Ramsey left her for another woman). That Tate and Ramsey got into a fight after the game is a bad look. Extremely bad. What is this, back outside the schoolyard during recess? Tate put this feud ahead of his team with the way he acted and there is no way Judge appreciates this. Tate knew there was a boiling pot and did nothing to extinguish the flame. Building culture is on the field, off it, during the game and after it.

— The last time the Giants failed to score at least 10 points in back-to-back games? It’s been seven years, since early in the 2013 season. The last time the Giants failed to score a touchdown in consecutive games? It’s been more than 22 years, all the way back to November of the 1998 season. In their last 21 offensive possessions, the Giants have no touchdowns and seven field goals.

— This is how bad it was in the first half: The Giants were content to allow the clock to run out in the first quarter without running a play on third-and-8. Guard Kevin Zeitler, on a play the Giants were not going to run, got penalized for a false start with one second left in the first quarter.

— This is strange, but apparently true. Gerald Everett’s 2-yard scoring run in the first quarter was the first rushing touchdown against the Giants by a tight end in 52 years. The last time it happened was Dec. 8, 1968, when Jackie Smith of the St. Louis Cardinals scored on an 11-yard run in a 28-21 Giants loss.

— Remember when Rams coach Sean McVay said “This is a real pain getting ready for this defense’’ and Twitter had a load of fun with that comment? It turned out to be true. The Rams were held 13 points below their scoring average and, other than the 55-yard touchdown reception by Cooper Kupp, their longest play went for only 16 yards.

— Rookie Matt Peart got 12 snaps at right tackle, part of a preordained plan, as he replaced Cam Fleming in the second quarter. Fleming finished the game and has played well for the Giants, given he was supposed to be a swing tackle before he was thrust into the starting role with Nate Solder’s opt-out. Watch for more of this, as Peart is part of the future and Fleming is working on a one-year contract.

— Corey Ballentine was a starting cornerback to open the season. He did not get one snap on defense against the 49ers or Rams. Isaac Yiadom started in his place the past two games but after 15 snaps against the Rams was replaced by Ryan Lewis, who played well. Looks like Lewis is now the starter opposite James Bradberry.

— Wither Markus Golden? This coaching staff has not yet warmed up to him. He played a season-low seven snaps. The outside linebacker rotation was led by Lorenzo Carter (46 snaps) and moved to Kyler Fackrell (42) and then Oshane Ximines (19 before he left with a shoulder injury).