The New York Giants have reportedly narrowed their head coaching search down to three potential candidates: New England Patriots coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, and Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.

Although the team has yet to confirm such reports, the fact that no follow-up interviews have been scheduled lends credence to the rumors.

All three of their alleged finalist targets have games this weekend and can’t be interviewed again until next week, so if any of the Giants’ remaining interviewees stood a chance at securing the head coaching job, they’d likely have already been called upon.

However, that does put the Giants in a precarious position. They face stiff competition from the Detroit Lions for Patricia, the Indianapolis Colts for McDaniels and the Arizona Cardinals for Shurmur.

In a disaster scenario, New York could lose out on all three, leaving them empty-handed and in a terrible spot.

It’s for that reason they have a “sleeper” candidate, reports Newsday.

Three finalists for the Giants. Four job openings in the NFL. It doesn’t take an advanced math degree to realize the Giants could be shut out of the game of head coach musical chairs when the playoff tunes end for Pat Shurmur, Matt Patricia and Josh McDaniels. It’s not outside the realm of possibilities that the three candidates the Giants have whittled their list down to will wind up with jobs in Arizona, Detroit and Indianapolis, respectively. Which is why the Giants have a backup plan. “A sleeper,” is how it was described by a source to Newsday.

So, who exactly is this sleeper candidate? That’s anyone’s guess, but it could be one of the previously mentioned interviewees: Steve Spagnuolo, former Denver Broncos running backs/assistant coach Eric Studesville or Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.

It could also be a dark horse like Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

Whoever it may ultimately be remains under wraps and the Giants undoubtedly hope it doesn’t come to that. They seem destined to hire Patricia, assuming this is the job he wants, and would use the other two finalists as a fallback.

If the Giants somehow miss out on all three, they’ll have to go to plan B, which wouldn’t be an ideal scenario for anyone involved.