The New York Giants improved to 7-2 on the season with a 24-16 victory over the Houston Texans in Week 10. It’s their best start since 2008 and the first time they’ve reached seven wins on the season since 2016.
Despite the Giants’ impressive record, they opened as just 3.5-point home favorites over the Detroit Lions.
As we enter Week 11, here’s a look at where the Giants place in a multitude of power rankings.
Nate Davis, USA TODAY: 11 (+2)
RB Saquon Barkley had a career-high 35 carries Sunday after he and New York failed to reach a contract extension during the bye. Here’s hoping the workload doesn’t burn out league’s leading rusher.
Bo Wulf, The Athletic: 14 (-1)
The third-best record in the league and only 14th in the power rankings? What gives?
The Giants rank 20th in overall DVOA, split between 15th on offense and 24th on defense. By EPA per drive, they rank ninth on offense and 18th on defense. They’re 7-1 in one-score games, which says a lot about their mettle but is probably unsustainable and masks their overall quality. That’s OK! Overachieving is great! The Giants are probably a playoff team, which would be an awesome accomplishment in Brian Daboll’s first year on the job. They just aren’t yet among the league’s elite.
Austin Gayle, The Ringer: 10 (+2)
The fact that the Giants are only three-point favorites over the Lions at home in Week 11 but still -310 to make the playoffs is very representative of their season. They’ve significantly exceeded preseason expectations against the third-easiest schedule in football in Weeks 1-10, which puts them in the driver’s seat for a wild-card bid in the NFC. But they still aren’t heavy favorites over one the worst teams in the NFL because betting markets still aren’t buying them as the type of powerhouse their 7-2 record would suggest.
Barry Werner, List Wire: 9 (+/- 0)
The Giants have a 7-2 mark, which is sort of crazy when you think about what Brian Daboll walked into with this team. The Giants have a better record than the first-year head coach’s former team, the Bills. Chew on that.
Mark Lane, Touchdown Wire: 12 (-3)
Mark Lane, Touchdown Wire: N/A
Dalton Miller, Pro Football Network: 9 (+1)
Dalton Miller, Pro Football Network:
The Giants didn’t necessarily run away and hide against the Texans, but it was clear that they were the better team. They allowed Houston to crawl back in the fourth quarter a bit, but had multi-possession leads for most of the contest.
However, if New York’s defense wasn’t so dominant inside of the red zone (1 for 6), this could have been a much different story. New York took a conservative approach to their offensive game plan against Houston, throwing the ball only 17 times in the game.
Vinnie Iyer, The Sporting News: 8 (-1)
Vinnie Iyer, The Sporting News:
The Giants do what they need to do to take advantage of weaker opponents with the defense, running game and just enough big pass plays from Daniel Jones. Brian Daboll remains in the coach of the year conversation.
Frank Schwab, Yahoo Sports: 12 (+3)
Saquon Barkley took over the rushing lead, with 931 yards. Derrick Henry has 923 and Nick Chubb has 904. Last season only one rusher surpassed 1,259 yards. Two seasons ago, only two backs surpassed 1,169 rushing yards. This season we have three on pace to go beyond 1,700.
Josh Schrock, NBC Sports: 8 (+1)
The highest single-game passer rating in the NFL this season? Daniel Jones with a 153.3 on Sunday against the Texans.
