Giants’ Yo-Yo Season Continues in MMQB’s Latest Weekly Power Rankings

The Giants are back on the rise in MMQB's weekly power rankings in what's been a weird type of season.

Up, down. Up, down. That’s been the theme for the New York Giants in terms of where they have placed in the weekly MMQB power rankings.

Last week, they were down after their near defeat of the Kansas City Chiefs. However, this week, they’ve risen four spots from their Week 8 ranking, up to No. 24 after upsetting the Las Vegas Raiders, who came into that Week 9 game as the AFC West leader.

Notes the MMQB crew in this week’s MMQB power ranking column:

Under Joe Judge, the team continues to vacillate between gritty, worthwhile opponent and green, incompetent newcomer. The source of the problem seems to be an uninspiring offense and an understocked defense. Can Dave Gettleman orchestrate a quick fix this offseason, or will he be entrusted to?

The Giants' defense has played better of late, but let’s be honest. The free-agent loss of Dalvin Tomlinson and the injury-related loss of inside linebacker Blake Martinez have been two subtraction from which the Giants haven’t recovered.

Tomlinson, now in Minnesota, was superb in attacking the A-gaps, which allowed for Martinez to flow to the ball from the second level. The guys being called upon to deliver in their places have not been up to the task.

On offense, save for a flash here and there, the showing has indeed been uninspiring, injuries notwithstanding. It would not be a surprise if a coaching change is made on that side of the ball as the offense’s oftentimes uninspiring play is putting much too much stress on the defense to pitch shutouts that it simply can’t deliver every week.

That all being said, this is the roster the Giants will have to move forward with. The good news is that the back end of their schedule does have some winnable games, including two against the Eagles, one against Washington, and games against Chicago and Miami.

But it’s hard to dismiss the slow start this team has had in what’s been yet another disappointing season and which is one that appears unlikely to result in a postseason berth. 

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