(Yeah, we know. Kind of hard to get worked up about it, right?)

The Giants sent Plaxico Burress for tests on his injured right hamstring yesterday, and coach Tom Coughlin said Brandon Jacobs' status could be a game-time decision again, but really ... how much should Giants fans worry?

In their 37-29 victory over Arizona, the Giants again showed that they can win without Burress, and their running game did enough without Jacobs, who was scratched before the game with a sore knee.

Burress, who was limited to the first series, was replaced capably by Domenik Hixon, who caught a team-high six balls and threw in two huge kickoff returns to boot en route to gaining 269 all-purpose yards.

Asked if Burress had hurt himself more by trying to play, Coughlin said: "I don't know. I don't think so."

After the game, Burress said of next week: "I don't know. Hamstrings are funny."

No one else in the NFC is laughing about how well the Giants are playing. They go into Washington with a three-game NFC East lead on the Redskins and Cowboys and a two-game advantage on Carolina and Tampa Bay for the best record in the conference.

The reeling Eagles visit Giants Stadium on Dec. 7 in a game that is seen as so unappealing to TV viewers that it is being left at 1 p.m. Then the Giants will visit Dallas on Sunday night, Dec. 14, which could be all about wrapping up the division and home-field advantage.

Of course, that's what Coughlin is focusing on, right? Three weeks down the road and first-round byes and home-field advantage and whether Giants Stadium will host both conference championship games in the same January weekend and booking hotels in Tampa for the Super Bowl?

"No, I'm thinking about the Washington Redskins ," he said.

Shocker.

Coughlin and his players are setting themselves up for a different ride from last season, when they had to win virtually every week down the stretch just to make the playoffs. Now they are winning virtually every week even though they don't have to and could use the injuries to their offensive playmakers as excuses.

"We realize what our goals are and we realize that just one of them is making the playoffs," defensive end Justin Tuck said. "I don't think guys are going to start thinking they are better than what they are, because we know what we had to go through last year as far as the playoff run and things of that nature and it isn't going to be any different this year. Just hopefully, we get a lot of home games instead of having to travel.

"We really don't have that many young people on this Football team, and the ones that are young are playing and played all last year and continue to do the same things this year. I think the veteran leadership on this Football team and just as a whole with all the guys, they really understand what it takes to win in this league."

So the Giants (10-1) will spend the week getting ready for the Redskins (7-4), whom they beat, 16-7, in the season opener Sept. 4. They will tend to Burress and Jacobs and look after the new injuries that cropped up Sunday, specifically the "mild concussion" and knee contusions suffered by tight end Kevin Boss and the tight shoulder that knocked defensive tackle Fred Robbins out for a few plays.

Coughlin said he is optimistic about both players and also Jacobs. "I am optimistic always," Coughlin said.

Why wouldn't he be?

Sunday

Giants at Washington

1 p.m.

TV: Ch. 5

Radio: WFAN (660)