Giants Country

Giants Rebound in MMQB's NFL Power Ranking Poll

With the Giants knocking on the door for a postseason berth, their stock has risen from a week ago.

Patricia Traina

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The New York Giants, who were trending downward in the MMQB's weekly NFL power ranking poll a week ago, jumped up seven spots, from No. 18 to No 11 this week, thanks to their big win on Sunday night over the Washington Commanders.

Notes MMQB's Conor Orr of the Giants' rise:

A Kayvon Thibodeaux late-season surge changes the calculus for some of the Giants’ remaining opponents. Let’s be clear: He was always good, but if he is cresting into a must-double player consistently, the Giants have some talented supplementary rushers like Azeez Ojulari who could round their way into some version of individual stardom as well.

The Giants pass rush, which produced three sacks (including that strick-sack/fumble recovery for a score by Thibodeaux), eight quarterback hits, six pass breakups, and four forced fumbles (two recovered), was certainly reminiscent of how the 2011 and 2007 Super Bowl defenses were able to control games.

Of the Commanders' 10 drives, they crossed into Giants territory on seven but only scored on three. The final two drives ended on the Giants' 5- and 6- yard lines, respectively, the first one ending in a fumble forced by Azeez Ojulari and Dexter Lawrence and recovered by Leonard Williams and the second ending on the controversial non-call of defensive pass interference by cornerback Darnay Holmes against Curtis Samuel.

The defense's play was only part of the story, as the Giants finally got their running game going again, finishing with 128 yards on 30 carries (4.3 average). Saquon Barkley (87 yards, 18 carries, 4.8 average) led the ground game. And

It also didn't hurt that head coach Brian Daboll, who had drawn some recent criticism for walking back some of the early-season aggressiveness he showed earlier in the season, went back to his bold decision-making process.

Daboll approved the decision to go for it on 4th-and-9 from the Washington 35-yard line. The successful conversion allowed the Giants, up 7-3 at the time, to increase their lead to 14-3 at the half.

With the win, the Giants improved to 8-5-1 and currently hold the sixth seed in the seven-team NFC playoff tournament. They also improved their chances for a postseason berth to 87 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight.com.

If New York wins Saturday against Minnesota, their playoff chances rise to 99 percent. If they get help from losses by Detroit, Seattle, and Washington, as per the scenarios outlined here, the Giants will clinch their first postseason berth since 2016 to cap a season in which not much was expected from this team. 

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for over 30 seasons for multiple media outlets, including Inside Football, Fan Sided, SB Nation, The Athletic, Forbes, and the Fan Nation Network (part of Sports Illustrated).  In addition to being a credentialed member of the New York Giants press corps, Patricia has covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. Patricia’s late father was a long-time New York Giants season ticket holder who helped instill her love and appreciation of the game and the franchise at a very early age.  She was able to parlay that knowledge of Giants franchise history into her first published work, The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants (Triumph Books, September 2020). She has enhanced her knowledge of the game by completing two semesters with the Scouting Academy and taking a course in NFL salary cap management. In addition to her work with Giants Country, Patricia is the host of the very successful LockedOn Giants podcast (also available on YouTube), featuring analysis, interviews, and Giants fan interaction. Patricia is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America and has participated in the mentoring of aspiring journalists. Patricia holds a Bachelor’s degree in English literature (with a minor in creative writing) and a Master’s degree in Corporate Communication. She is a certified resume development specialist (corporate, military transition, and federal) and interview coach who enjoys music and creating fan art featuring her favorite bands. 

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