EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — After three consecutive losses, the New York Giants are flirting with last place in the NFC East and hoping they have enough healthy bodies to turn things around.

With one major injury following another, the team coach Tom Coughlin is putting on the field barely resembles the squad he envisioned before the start of the season.

Regardless, the Giants must travel across the country to visit the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks in their inhospitable Seattle surroundings and try to salvage hope with an upset.

Coughlin attempted to muster confidence with one of those “anything can happen” commentaries.

“Anytime you have an opportunity to play — this is the second game of our nine-game schedule (after the bye) — we are excited about that part of it,” Coughlin said. “A win can do a lot of things for you and put you back on track. Certainly, the challenge is there for us this week, but nevertheless we look forward to it.”

It is not going to be easy, though. Although the Seahawks underwent a few changes in personnel, their core on both offense and defense remains in place.

Leading the offense is running back Marshawn Lynch, a dangerous dual threat.

“I have always respected Marshawn Lynch as a running back and what he stood for in his game,” Giants linebacker Jameel McClain said. “To me, he is another great running back that we are getting an opportunity to play against.

“He is getting the ball out of the backfield, but he has been getting that in the passing game, too, and in the run game. So when you have a player of that caliber, you have to get him the ball, (and) that is what they are doing.”

Making the Seahawks’ offense run is quarterback Russell Wilson, who like Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, the Giants’ previous opponent, can burn a defense with both his arm and with his feet.

“When you have a quarterback that can move, you definitely have to be worried about that,” New York defensive end Robert Ayers said. “(Against the Colts), I personally gave up a first down. I got too high on my rush lane, kind of selfishly I thought I could beat the guy around and I didn’t quite get there and allowed Andrew Luck to step up and run for a first down.

“With Russell Wilson, he can turn those into six, and put points on the board if he does that. That is one thing I have to keep improving on and being more disciplined and working with other guys, and them working with me, and us collectively doing a good job. It is definitely an issue when you have quarterbacks like that.”

Defensively, the Seahawks still have the Legion of Boom — their powerhouse secondary consisting of cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Byron Maxwell and safeties Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas. Despite the changes made to the rules governing illegal contact and pass interference, the group is still playing at a high level.

“Definitely see similarities, same style defense,” Giants quarterback Eli Manning said. “They mix up their zone, they mix up their man, they like to have their corners in press. They have good players, they get a great pass rush. … They don’t have to blitz a lot to get a good pass rush, and they rely on their front four to get pressure on the quarterback and their secondary to mix up coverages. They are a talented defense and they have a lot of good players, and they play well.”

The defending champions certainly won’t be a pushover this year, just as they weren’t last year when they beat the Giants 23-0 on Dec. 15 at MetLife Stadium.

The Giants realize that they must play a lot better than they have during their three-game losing streak. Manning views the Seattle game as an excellent opportunity to see how well his team measures up.

“I think it should bring out the best of you,” Manning said. “See where you stand; see how you stand against a team that has won the Super Bowl a year before.

“We know they are a talented team, and we know we’ve got to go in there and play our best. So we are looking forward to that challenge and that opportunity to see if we find a way to get a win.”

To do so, they must overcome a long list of key injuries.

The most recent was to cornerback Prince Amukamara, who was placed on injured reserve after sustaining a biceps injury in Monday night’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Also new to the injury report are offensive lineman Weston Richburg (ankle) and defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka (knee), both starters like Amukamara, and receiver Preston Parker (ankle), who was the team’s third receiver.

On the offensive line, New York will look to move Geoff Schwartz, currently on the temporary injured reserve list, a little further along than planned this week. However, given the short work week, Schwartz is not necessarily a given to be thrown into a 60-plus-play game right out of the chute until he goes through several complete practices.

The more likely scenario would see Dallas Reynolds step in for Richburg if the rookie can’t play.

At receiver, Kevin Ogletree almost certainly will get more of an opportunity to step up as the third receiver if Parker is unable to go. The Giants also managed to get some production in garbage time last week from rookie Corey Washington, who probably would move up as the fourth receiver.

On the defensive line, a change might have been coming anyway at defensive end as Kiwanuka wasn’t as productive as the team hoped.

Ayers, who is coming off his best game of the season Monday night, potentially could move into the starting lineup ahead of Kiwanuka, with second-year man Damontre Moore getting a bump in his rotational snaps when Ayers moves inside to defensive tackle on passing downs.

Cornerback is probably the toughest call for the Giants right now. With Amukamara done for the year and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie trying to gut out injury issues of his own, the Giants likely will field Zack Bowman as one of the starters and hope that Rodgers-Cromartie can make it through a second consecutive week in which he takes nearly all of the defense’s snaps.