NFL power rankings: Giants slip even further after blowout loss to Rams

NFL media moving closer to throwing in the towel on Giants

It’s officially that time of the week: NFL Power Rankings. The (1-5) New York Giants dropped its fifth match of the season on Sunday, this time to the Los Angeles Rams.

There was very little sign of life from the Giants for national media to pick up on in their power rankings this week. Most had the Giants slipping further to the bottom of the barrel. ESPN ranked the Giants 31st, the lowest of all the outlets below.

Aggregating several rankings from around the Internet, the Giants come out to an average ranking of No. 28 (last week: No. 27) in the 32-team NFL. Our figure averages all the rankings below except for DraftKings, which bases its ranking on point spread differential.

Let’s check out what outlets around the league are saying about the Giants after week 5:

NFL.com: No. 27 (was 27)

The injury-depleted Giants needed to play a nearly perfect game to beat a superior Rams team on Sunday. Instead, Big Blue had two costly turnovers deep in its own territory during a nightmare second quarter that featured 28 unanswered points by the visitors. By the end of the game, an unsightly 38-11 loss, Daniel Jones had fumbled twice (losing one) and thrown three interceptions. Jones’ supporting cast is compromised at the moment — practice squad call-up Dante Pettis was targeted 11 times! — but the QB’s failure to protect the ball is worrisome after a promising start to the season in that department. The Giants are 1-5 for the second straight year with a difficult schedule ahead.

NBC Sports: No. 29 (was 28)

The Giants are now 9-23 with Daniel Jones as the starter and once again are irrelevant in an NFL season. It’s decision time on the QB and coach for Big Blue.

CBS Sports: No. 27 (was 27)

With all the injuries on offense, Daniel Jones had his worst game of the season against the Rams. The Giants were terrible in that game on both sides of the ball, which drops them to 1-5.

ESPN: No. 31 (was 30)

Week 1 confidence rating: 4.2

How it’s going now: 1.8

The Giants weren’t great at the start, and it’s even worse now. That’s what happens when you drop five of six games, you have one of the league’s worst defenses (ranked 27th) and your offense is devastated by injuries. Seriously, just about the only positive to take from the early part of the season is the play of Daniel Jones — welp, until Sunday against the Rams, against whom he had four turnovers in a 38-11 loss. — Jordan Raanan

Sporting News: No. 28 (was 28)

The Giants were cut down to size against the Rams as the injuries have gotten to them. Their defense has become a shell on every level and their offense doesn’t have any rhythm or consistency with line and backfield deficiencies.

Pro Football Network: No. 27 (was 21)

When Kadarius Toney couldn’t make a go of it in this one, the writing was on the wall. This team never stood a chance against a focused Rams team. However, the Giants’ offense was putrid. It was worse than we’ve seen in a while, although, given Aaron Donald played opposite a Swiss cheese offensive line, it makes some sense.

Daniel Jones finally came crashing down to Earth after playing the best football of his career through the first five weeks of the season. He threw 2 interceptions and fumbled twice, losing one.

Yahoo! Sports: No. 29 (was 28)

There will be a lot of talk about the Giants trading off pieces, perhaps even Saquon Barkley, before the deadline. Here’s the problem: GM Dave Gettleman is on the hot seat. Trading players for picks is best for the franchise, but is it best for him?

New York Post: No. 27 (was 28)

The Giants allowed 28 unanswered second-quarter points, trailed 38-3 and lost 38-11 to the Rams. And moved up one spot because there are so many bad teams! The Giants are 6-30 in September and October since the start of 2017. This would be even uglier if the Saints’ Sean Payton didn’t lose 35 years of coaching acumen in the fourth quarter of Week 4.

Sports Illustrated: No. 24 (was 27)

An optimist could argue that the Giants feel a little bit like the 2020 Chargers—their young quarterback is emerging (even if the ceiling is not Justin Herbert’s) and yet they still can’t win games with a veteran supporting cast. Maybe if the coaching staff was a little more forward-thinking and a little less into cosplaying Leopold from The Simpsons.

DraftKings: No. 30 (was 25)

DraftKings has moved from subjective assessments to using spread differential. Point differential is a helpful tool for figuring out the best and worst teams. However, point spread can offer a little more context to how good or bad teams might be. The top of the rankings includes most of the really good teams and the bottom includes most of the really bad teams.