Giants Rise in Week 5 MMQB Power Rankings

The New York Giants’ 36-24 Week 4 victory over the Arizona Cardinals at MetLife Stadium kept their home record undefeated and their season record 3-1 overall with a first-place grasp on the NFC East.

New York's dramatic win, punctuated by cornerback Deonte Banks’ 98-yard interception return for a touchdown, which put an end to the Cardinals' threat of snatching the win away from Big Blue, was enough to prompt SI's Conor Orr to move the Giants from No. 24 last week to No. 21 in this week’s MMQB NFL power rankings.

While Banks received a ton of love from his teammates and the Giants faithful after his game-sealing play, Orr saved his analysis to praise linebacker Arvell Reese.

"Arvell Reese vs. David Bailey was going to be a made-for-talk-radio feud for the decade in New York," Orr said.

"Through the first month of their respective professional careers—which, for the record, means very little—it’s not looking like much of a fight. Reese has major “that dude” energy. His stat line against the Cardinals was beastly.

Reese certainly deserves kudos for shifting momentum during the back-and-forth brawl that saw three lead changes between the late minutes of the second quarter and the end of the third frame.

His moment came with 3:15 left in the second quarter, with the Giants trailing the Cardinals 14-12 after a Jameis Winston-to-Malachi Fields touchdown connection and a failed two-point conversion.

The Cardinals were ready to ride their wave of stopping the game-tying score with a solid drive that could have extended their lead to double digits. Three plays into the drive, Reese came through with his first career interception after Shelby Harris batted down a pass.

While Reese and Banks were critical to flipping the game from a potential rout to a thrilling, 1986 Giants defense-esque victory, the name that hides behind the scenes in the defining win was head coach John Harbaugh.

Harbaugh's influence has been floating in the air at 1925 Giants Drive from the first day he arrived at the facility. The culture he brought in has been widely accepted by the players and established a belief that his locker room could compete with anybody in the league on Sundays.

It wasn't until these last two weeks, and more importantly in the final two minutes against the Cardinals, that we saw that attitude translate to a period of intense adversity on the football field.

In prior seasons, the Giants' fragile secondary would have worked against them. In such a situation, big plays and untimely penalties would have likely caused them to crumble and let their opponent score a touchdown and steal the game.

Not anymore under Harbaugh, who has preached to his players to hang together when things get tough on the gridiron, and two consecutive turnovers just outside the end zone to stall potentially horrible losses prove his players have bought into and exemplified their coach's motto.

That's the difference having a proven coach like Harbaugh provides to an organization that has had to make too many leadership changes amid grueling late-game collapses that have marred them in recent years.

The hope is that more wins will come from moments like the one that replayed itself in Week 4, so the Giants can continue pushing toward their postseason aspirations and climbing Orr's power rankings in future weeks.

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