NY Giants Keep Their Place in MMQB's Latest NFL Power Rankings Poll

It was just one week ago that the opening lines of our weekly power rankings piece discussed the New York Giants' ability to add a little more darkness to the black cloud that has seemingly been hanging over the organization since their last leap to the Super Bowl in 2011.

Well, they did it once again in the cold, snowy atmosphere in Chicago this past Sunday.

More specifically, they added a touch of details to the progressing grim painting of their 2025 season that have already been included an astounding three times this fall.

That is by suffering their fourth defeat in 10 games after blowing a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, with the latest instance coming in the Giants' 24-20 road loss to the Bears, which dropped their record to 2-8.

Like the other three games against the Cowboys, Saints, and Broncos that featured these brutal collapses, the metaphorical paintbrush worked in a very similar way.

It started with New York's offense getting off to a strong start behind rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, who was driving efficient scoring drives against a porous Bears defense with both his crisp arm and confident legs.

However, those Giants fans watching the artist go to work from the grandstands at Soldier Field and back home in East Rutherford were just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and boy did it.

The Giants would soon lose Dart at the beginning of the fourth quarter after he was pulled from the contest for a concussion check, and the move all but took the air out of the team's momentum.

Even so, all that was left for the defense was to continue putting pressure on the Bears' backfield and preserve the 20-10 advantage that the visitors had built up--albeit through some highly questionable decision-making in the first three frames of action.

They failed once again as Chicago marched right downfield twice behind a late dose of confidence and many whiffed tackles by the Giants to steal another victory from the jaws of defeat.

So, was this finally the occasion of ineptitude that would get the Giants cast into the dungeon of the league order after we thought the loss to San Francisco would do the trick?

Once again, the answer is not yet based on Connor Orr of SI.com's latest MMQB power rankings poll ahead of Week 11, where Orr chose to leave the Giants where they stood at the start of last week at No. 27.

Orr did, however, offer his suggestions for a second ugly problem that now faces the franchise in the months to come as a result of how far they've fallen in a dismal season.

Former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll — Brian Daboll during the second half against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. | David Banks-Imagn Images

"I made a few calls on Monday in the aftermath of Brian Daboll’s firing," Orr said. "Here are 15 potential suitors for the Giants’ head coaching vacancy. The TLDR version? This hiring cycle is going to be weird. Buckle up."

While the Giants' fourth collapse of Sunday's nature might not have been enough to convince Orr to push them to the bottom of the league's 32 teams, it ultimately became the final straw for head coach Brian Daboll, who was relieved of his duties on Monday after four years at the helm and a 20-40-1 coaching record.

There were reports that some members of the Giants' ownership group were prepared to move on from Daboll in the aftermath of the Denver game.

Still, their fateful decision waited three additional weeks before the inevitable choice was made to hold someone accountable for the organization's steady decline over that short span.

It feels hard to pinpoint all of the blame on Daboll's shoulders, especially when him and general manager Joe Schoen, who the Giants said will remain in his role moving forward, came to East Rutherford as sort of a package deal back in 2022 when they took New York to a 9-7-1 record and their first playoff victory in six seasons in their first season in control.

The reality of the situation was that the team brass held the mindset that the roster was more than capable of competing and winning a handful of games this season with the talent that they assembled in the offseason, and while a few of those pieces have been lost to long-term injuries over the past couple months, that fell on Daboll and his staff for not finding enough ways to make it work.

What becomes most concerning about Daboll's departure is how it will affect the continued development of the rookie gunslinger he staked his final claim on and insisted the Giants had to draft as the heir apparent for the future.

The duo appeared to have something good going in Dart's first seven starts, and, not surprisingly, Daboll has made a name for himself as an experienced quarterback tutor over his coaching career in this league, where he has taught some of the best current arms, such as Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen.

Still, it comes down to the product of all 53 players under his watch, and the feeling had been brewing that the Giants locker room was starting to unravel in front of their beleaguered leader, whose frequently heated sideline interactions and growing pile of frustrating losses sealed his fate.

As the Giants move on to their next game against the Green Bay Packers at MetLife Stadium and then have seven more games to play after that, things have gotten a little darker. Still, their focus will remain on the men left in the locker room, who offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will guide in the interim.

Once that is over, the franchise has a serious task ahead in finding the guy who can connect with the players in the right way, bring the right system, and maintain the steady progression of the most important player on their roster, who likely wouldn't be there if not for the chops of his former head coach and biggest believer.

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