NFL power rankings 2018, Week 5: Giants near the bottom following loss to Saints

The New York Giants fell to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, 33-18. New York is now 1-3, with 12 games left to get back on track. With the NFL Power Rankings coming out on various platforms this morning, let’s see where the Giants fall.

We went through seven different site’s power rankings and the Giants came out at No. 27 when you aggregate the various lists. They are as high as No. 25 on Bleacher Report and as low at No. 28 on SB Nation. Here is an aggregation of all of the rankings and the explanations.

SB Nation (No. 28)

Yahoo (No. 26)

The Week 3 win over the Texans looks like the outlier for the Giants’ offense. In their other three games they have 15, 13 and 18 points. The 18 points Sunday, which included a late touchdown and two-point conversion after they fell behind by 16, came against a Saints defense that hasn’t been very good this season. Saquon Barkley, a healthy Odell Beckham and new coach Pat Shurmur were supposed to fix the offense, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Bleacher Report (No. 25)

High: 23

Low: 26

Last Week: 24

Week 4 Result: Lost vs. New Orleans 33-18

Had you said before Sunday’s game with the New Orleans Saints that Giants quarterback Eli Manning would have more passing yards and more touchdown passes than Drew Brees, odds are many people would have declared that the path to a New York win.

Of course, when you throw in the 134 rushing yards and three touchdowns from Saints tailback Alvin Kamara, it changes the dynamic.

The Giants drew first blood in this game, led for much of the first half and held the Saints out of the end zone over the first 30 minutes. But after intermission, the Giants had no answer for Kamara, and the offense sputtered. By the time New York found pay dirt again, the G-Men were down 16.

The Giants can’t seem to put a full 60-minute effort together. If the offense is playing well, the defense falls apart. When the defense holds, the offense sputters.

The notion of a quick return to contention under Pat Shurmur has gone from possible to unlikely to you have to be kidding.

The notion of another top-five draft slot, however, is another story.

USA Today (No. 25)

Saquon Barkley continues to impress as backfield receiver. He’s on track for 108 catches, which would eclipse Matt Forte’s RB record (102).

NJ.com (No. 28)

Odell Beckham Jr. said it best: It shouldn’t be this hard. But for this Giants team, it is. A suddenly winnable division is slipping away.

Washington Post (No. 26)

That’s three times in four games that the Giants have failed to reach 20 points. It’s beginning to feel a lot like last season, and the mood in their locker room was appropriately glum following Sunday’s loss to the Saints.

ESPN (No. 28)

Record: 1-3

Week 4 ranking: 28

Rookie snaps leader: OL Will Hernandez, 248 snaps out of 248 (100 percent). He is one of four Giants to not miss an offensive snap this season, along with Eli Manning, Nate Solder and Patrick Omameh. -- Masi