Giants Country

Giants Settle in Bottom Third of MMQB Power Rankings

The Giants are assured of their fifth straight losing season, and their power ranking reflects yet another lost season.

Patricia Traina

Giants Settle in Bottom Third of MMQB Power Rankings
Giants Settle in Bottom Third of MMQB Power Rankings /

Thank goodness for the Panthers, Lions, Jets, Texans, and Jaguars because if it wasn’t for those four teams, the New York Giants, who have accumulated enough dead weight to rightfully sink to the bottom of the MMQB power rankings, would probably be there by now.

But no, the Giants are holding steady in the bottom third of the league, where they have been all year long. This week, they’re ranked No. 27 after another embarrassing loss, this one a total team failure from the coaching right through to the lack of execution.

Notes MMQB’s Conor Orr of this week’s Giants’ ranking:

With the swath of uncorrected reports out there that Joe Judge is safe for another year, one can probably take that to the bank with some degree of certainty. We’ll see how the Giants perform now that they know what the next year is going to look like. The only question now: What can the Giants put out there to inspire confidence in 2022? This offense is talent rich. The defense is ... well-coached but severely undermanned. Putting the pieces together and spoiling a season for a division rival would be a nice head start.

Right now, besides the losing that has stained most of the last decade, the only thing remotely consistent with the different variations of the Giants squads is that they consistently finish at the top of the league in terms of injured players, a problem in itself that no one seems to be able to figure out.

But the thing about this year’s failing team is that a strong case can be made that the coaching, which last year looked so promising, is very much a factor in not getting the most out of the roster.

The questionable in-game management decisions, the wasted timeouts, the conservative play calling, the preseason preparation—all of these factors lie on the coaching staff. For example, when was the last time on offense, you could honestly say one play consistently built off another? Why all of a sudden did players like James Bradberry and Leonard Williams, both of whom were playmakers last year, see their overall numbers drop like lead balloons?

To be clear, it’s not all the coaching staff (which still needs to get through a season where there’s not an in-season dismissal of a key assistant). The injuries and the execution are factors.

So too is the failure by the front office to address the most important part of the team, the offensive line, while also going all out on free agency to appease the head coach’s desire to put the right people in the locker room.

As for the future of this Giants team, general manager Dave Gettleman’s retirement seems pretty much a given. But beyond that, who knows how long it will take to rebuild a team that has without question been a mess. 

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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