It is unfair to call what the Giants and their frequently depleted defensive backfield have already encountered as the preliminaries. You line up and play whatever team is on your schedule. Every game presents a challenge, and gaining a victory is an accomplishment.

But not every NFL opponent is created equal, and it just so happens the Giants, in fashioning a 3-1 record a month into Brian Daboll’s first season as head coach, have encountered some of the worst passing attacks in the league.

The season’s first four weeks have seen the Giants match up against Ryan Tannehill and the Titans, Baker Mayfield and the Panthers, Cooper Rush and the Cowboys and, most recently, Justin Fields and the Bears. The next four games, though, feature a very different slate of quarterbacks. Starting Sunday in north London, the schedule brings Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, followed by Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars and the revitalized Geno Smith and the Seahawks.

Simply put, the next four tests should be considerably more demanding than the first four tests if you are a member of the Giants’ secondary.