Giants Hold Steady in MMQB Weekly Power Rankings

The Giants' perfect record is gone, but there is still a lot to like about this scrappy team head coach Brian Daboll has assembled.

The New York Giants' ability to keep things close against the Dallas Cowboys through three quarters on Monday night was good enough to hold them steady at No. 17 in the MMQB weekly NFL power rankings.

The Giants missed a massive opportunity to walk into a winnable Bears game at 3-0. It’s going to be hard to keep pace in this division for long, so banking a handful of wins would have been helpful. All that said, there was a distinct fight and observable competence from this team in frantic, end-of-game situations.

Some might argue that the Cowboys were more to blame for the game being tied after three quarters of play, but Orr's take is correct. The Giants have shown far more fight this year, even if they're getting their lunch money taken from them, as was the case Monday night in pass protection. That's certainly something to build off of.

But for anyone who thought the Giants would go undefeated this season, that was always a wild dream. For as far as it's come, this team still has a long way to go. There is a mess at receiver after New York lost Sterling Shepard to a torn ACL. 

The offensive line is still not solidified--and even if it does solidify, figure it will undergo more changes in the off-season once general manager Joe Schoen has some salary cap space to work with.

But there are lots of bright spots. The two young pass rushers, Azeez Ojulari and Kayvon Thibodeaux, might not have the numbers to show for it, but their respective presence on the field influences things, if just a bit. Running back Saquon Barkley looks like his old self, as he's currently the team's top playmaker.

And yes, even quarterback Daniel Jones, who took a beating Monday night, has looked good in this offense. Imagine how better he looks with consistent pass protection and a stronger receiver group.

So yes, Giants fans, the loss to the Cowboys Monday night stung--losing to that team always does, especially considering the frequency of the losses. But this Giants team always was going to be a rebuild project this year, and all things considered, it's come a long way from last year's debacle with plenty more room to grow.

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