New York Giants Avoid Last Place in MMQB's Week 2 NFL Power Rankings

Two teams ranked below the Giants, who finished 30th in the MMQB's weekly power ranking poll.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Sep 14, 2021 1:27 PM EDT

The good news, for those who put any stock in NFL team power rankings, is the Giants are not ranked dead last in the MMQB's weekly power rankings.

That dishonor of being ranked dead last belongs to the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that appears to be an even bigger mess right now than the Giants.

That said, the Giants, who finished 30th in this week's power ranking, were able to jump one spot ahead of the Houston Texans, who defeated the Jaguars in the Week 1 opener.

Notes the MMQB team of the Giants ranking:

Sunday’s opener against the Broncos was disappointing. A wealth of playmaking talent on that roster sits underneath the unbearable weight of a dying system. Jason Garrett has not been an effective play-caller in more than a decade, and the Giants’ insistence on pairing the young Joe Judge with a familiar, experienced face is going to end up a cinderblock dragging this roster down. Dave Gettleman has taken his fair share of criticism for the post-Eli Manning era, but Andrew Thomas is playing well. The defense is fine. Where does the blame actually lie?

The MMQB team raises a very good question: Where does the blame lie for the Giants Week 1 struggles? Is it on offensive coordinator Jason Garrett's poor fit for this offense? Head coach Joe Judge's handling of the preseason snaps for the offense? General manager Dave Gettleman? Quarterback Daniel Jones? The football gods?

Where does the blame for the Giants' sluggish start lie? Weigh in on that in our free forum.

The likely answer is it's not all on one person or factor--it rarely is when you're talking about something of this magnitude.

Receiver Kenny Golladay sort of predicted the offense, whose 13 points scored in Week 1 was less than its l2020 season overage of 17.5 points per game, would struggle before the game was played.

Golladay pointed to the lack of cohesion on the offense brought about by all the skill players who had to miss chunks of the summer due to injuries and rehab.

But with everyone having returned to action except for tight end Evan Engram in the Week 1 loss, Golladay was a bit more optimistic with the Giants' showing despite the game's results.

"I feel like we did a lot of good things," he said. "We fell short a few times, but I feel like the big plays that we did make, they really can show you what this offense can really do."

That's all well and good, but the Giants need to go from teasing to what they might be able to do and start doing before the season once again slips away from them.