Giants Fall in Power Rankings Despite 2-1 Start

The New York Giants may have done what head coach John Harbaugh said "was required" in their Week 3 win over the Tennessee Titans, which lifted them to a 2-1 record.

In the eyes of outsiders like SI's Connor Orr, who just published his fourth MMQB NFL power rankings poll of the year, it was nearly impossible to leave the weekend feeling like the franchise had impressed enough to climb back up the league order.

So, despite their muddy 12-7 victory, sealed by a game-saving interception by safety Jevon Holland in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter, the Giants once again fell a couple spots to No. 24, with another winnable game coming up against the Arizona Cardinals at MetLife Stadium.

Orr, who was also pretty critical of New York's move to trade for Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, to bolster the position room, had few words justifying why he dropped the team a little closer to the basement with a winning record.

Lack of Confidence at Quarterback?

Sep 27, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston (19) walks off the field after the game against the Tennessee Titans at MetLife Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ever since Jaxson Dart went down for the season with a knee injury against the Rams, it feels like all the preseason supporters of the Giants and their new era under Harbaugh have sneaked out the back door.

Both analysts and media personalities alike couldn't get enough talk about how special this Giants team could be with their new leader and talent additions on both sides of the ball, with some hitching their wagons as much as to say that New York could make a push for the postseason for the first time since the 2022 campaign.

While we might agree that some of the luster has been ripped out of the locker room because of injuries to key players and a lack of strong production on either side of the ball, the real issue behind the declining optimism comes down to who is playing under center.

Jameis Winston took over for Dart just seven offensive snaps into the Rams game, looking highly unprepared for the moment. The following week in his first start of the season, he went 14-of-22 for 118 yards against Tennessee. Still, he has not looked like the same capable veteran arm that nearly led the Giants to some wins last fall.

He certainly wasn't the lone reason the Giants had to pray for a Cam Ward mistake to salvage their second win, but his poor numbers can't last if the Giants hope to be playing meaningful football late in the season.

The Giants didn't make any new fans with their trade for McCarthy as a potential option to replace Winston either, given they had to send a draft pick to Minnesota and brought in a second guy who has dealt with a major injury in the first few years of his career.

These are the cards that the Giants have been dealt now that they have to go the rest of the season with their franchise hopeful in Dart. Just as Winston was granted a new deal before the season because Dart was always one play away from missing time, so too could Winston be, given how things have been trending for the organization over the past two weeks.

An Opportunity to Silence the Critics

Sep 27, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh looks on during the first half against the Tennessee Titans at MetLife Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Despite holding a positive record heading into Week 4, a lot hasn't been going right for the Giants.

The players in that building still believe they can be a highly functioning football team, despite injury woes that have taken away their best passer and defensive player in consecutive weeks, and they are still in a softer stretch of the schedule where wins can be found.

With the Cardinals coming to town this weekend, it's put-up-or-shut-up time for Harbaugh and company.

Several names on both sides need to step up and affect the outcome, including the defensive front, where the pass rush needs to get home and help the injury-ridden secondary, which is fighting to battle elite receivers with younger, less experienced pieces.

For Winston, he can't get caught up in the noise from the McCarthy transaction as he gets another chance to redeem his status as the starter. His main focus should be trusting his reads and getting his throws out cleanly to his receivers to prevent the offense from becoming a one-dimensional operation.

It might have been the awful conditions last Sunday, but that shouldn't be an issue against Arizona.

If everything comes together for 60 minutes and Big Blue grabs a convincing third straight win, there will be less reason for critics like Orr to push them back into the range of mildly relevant teams at 3-1.

There's no better time for the Giants to do it than now, before the slate of opponents gets a whole lot tougher.

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