To listen to the Giants, there is beauty inside of them, hidden beneath warts and blemishes and other defects that make them an unsightly mess.

To listen to the Giants, there is a winning streak sitting around the corner, just waiting to be scooped up and claimed.

To listen to the Giants, their predicament is troubling but temporary, their plight annoying but about ready to be discarded.

All well and good, but if the Giants do not start winning soon, probably immediately, no one will be listening to anything they have to say.

“It’s time for us to recognize who we are,” linebacker Mike Barrow said. “We aren’t among the chickens, we’re an eagle. It’s time to spread our wings and fly.”

Or else go splat.

The Giants today embark on what they have labeled the stretch run that will salvage their season. They face the Raiders at Giants Stadium, and while no one will be the least bit surprised if Oakland makes it to New Orleans to represent the AFC in Super Bowl XXXVI, the Giants at the moment will turn heads if they merely squeeze into the playoffs.

At 5-5, they are truly representative of their record, consistently allowing inconsistency to creep into virtually every aspect of their performance. They are coming off a mistake-filled 28-16 loss in Minnesota and next week finally get their bye. The respite will be accompanied by hope and dreams if they are 6-5, burdened with misery and doubt if they are 5-6.

“I think what we need now is to be able to identify that we can do this,” Jim Fassel said. “What we are doing is not like four years ago when we were saying, ‘Are we good enough?’ We are good enough to accomplish it.

“We haven’t done our job and we have to accept that fact and we can get pounded by the media and pounded everywhere, but we are the one’s that did this to ourselves and we are the only ones that can undo this.”

The Giants might be kidding themselves. Anything less than a 4-2 record the rest of the way will almost definitely keep them out of the playoffs, and 5-1 might be required. The 7-2 Raiders are a true heavyweight and beating them will be an impressive accomplishment. Two other playoff teams, the Eagles and Packers, complete the schedule, with the Cowboys, Cardinals and Seahawks in between. Add it up. There are no guarantees (sorry, coach Fassel) that getting to 9-7 or 10-6 will become reality.

Rather than admit to any physical deficiencies, the Giants are adamant that their success or failure will be determined only by themselves.

“I feel if we go out and play the way we’re supposed to play, we’re the best team in the league,” safety Sam Garnes said. “I know it sounds far-fetched right now, but I stand behind it and I believe it.”

Once again, the Giants see fit to use last year’s stretch run – they won their final five regular-season games – as evidence that they have what it takes to do it again.

“We’re in a situation we’ve been before; we’ve conquered that dragon,” Jessie Armstead said. “It’s not like we’re going out here in uncharted territory. Sometimes the unknown is the hardest thing. When you know you can do something, it becomes a better thing.”

Another loss might ultimately force the Giants to confront this season as its own separate entity, which, of course, it is. Armstead said, “I’ve been in worse hell-holes than this and come out of it,” but it’s doubtful he will make the same claim if the Raiders exit town with a victory.

“This here, you’ve got your right hand on that first bar, and that’s the most critical bar,” Armstead said of today’s game. “You slip on that first one, that left hand might not grab that next bar.”

In other words, free-fall.