It’s no secret that Giants head coach Pat Shurmur is on the hot seat.

That’s the reality when a second-year head coach has won just seven of his first 21 games and his team shows little sign of progress amid an eight-game skid.

It’s also the worst kept secret that the Giants would prefer not to fire Shurmur. Let’s be honest, if owner John Mara wanted to fire Shurmur midseason, there was plenty of justification to doing so after getting embarrassed at the Jets leading up to the bye three weeks ago.

However, is there anything that Shurmur can do to avoid his fate as the axe draws closer?

Short of the Giants winning out and finishing the season 6-10, it’s hard to imagine Shurmur leading the Giants out of the tunnel next fall.

That won’t be an easy task, and it might not even be enough to save Shurmur’s job.

The Giants opened as 8.5 point-underdogs ahead of next Monday’s game at the Philadelphia Eagles, even after the Eagles fell to the Miami Dolphins, 37-31, on Sunday afternoon.

Don’t look now, but Miami has won three of its last five games -- which is more than the Giants have won all season -- and has shown much more life than Shurmer’s bench, despite a roster that was constructed to purposely lose games in order to get a better draft pick.

If the Giants lose to the Eagles they will tie the record for the longest losing streak in franchise history. Set a new franchise record and lose 10 in a row with a loss to the Dolphins the following week, and Shurmur might not make it to Week 16 against Washington.

Shurmur’s fate is largely tied to the development of quarterback Daniel Jones, which appears to have stalled after the rookie’s third multi-interception game of the Sunday. Jones has now turned the football over 21 times in 10 starts.

However, even if Jones turns a corner over the final four games, it might not be enough to save Shurmur.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported Sunday evening that even Shurmur is beginning to feel the pressure.

“He seems to sense what is coming,” Florio said Sunday night on NBC’s Football Night in America. "We’re hearing the whispers around the league that change is in the air.

"Consider this – Ben McAdoo was fired after his 28th regular-season game a couple of years ago. He was 13-15, and he had gone to the playoffs his first year. This was Game 28 for Pat Shurmur. He’s 7-21. It’s not looking good for Pat Shurmur, and it’s not looking good for the Giants.”

It is worth noting that McAdoo was fired with four games remaining, so cutting ties with Shurmur at some point over the next month isn’t unprecedented for Mara or the Giants.

“This is a historically young team that’s going out there and competing against some really good football teams,” Shurmur said after Sunday’s game, perhaps pleading for his job. “We’ve got to do what we have to do to win games and I understand that. They also are developing. At some point, we’ll be good enough to win.”

The question now becomes whether Shurmur will be the coach to see it through.

Matt Lombardo may be reached at MLombardo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoNFL