NFL Power Rankings, Week 6: Giants rank No. 30 after showing small signs of improvement

Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys was the most exciting and high-scoring game for the New York Giants so far this season, but they still lost in the final seconds and continue to be winless.

Aggregating six rankings from around the Internet, the Giants come out to an average ranking of No. 30 in the 32-team NFL. In one ranking, the Giants jumped all the way up to No. 28. After finishing ranked No. 31 for the past two weeks, New York continues to remain steady, perhaps reflecting the slow signs of improvement week to week.

Let’s check out what outlets around the league are saying about the Giants heading into Week 6 of the season:

Pro Football Network: No. 28

The Giants sit at 28th in my Week 5 NFL Power Rankings. The Giants dominated Dallas early on, but that didn’t last. Still, New York has been playing better as the season goes on, and maybe we shouldn’t have been super surprised that the Giants would have a brutal first month of the season with a first-time head coach and so much change in the organization. Also, Darius Slayton is the real deal.

Football Power Index: No. 30

ESPN: No. 31

The Giants have six touchdowns through five games, with one coming from the defense. That means the Giants’ offense is averaging exactly one touchdown per game, and its lack of truly explosive playmakers is glaring with Saquon Barkley out for the season and Sterling Shepard dealing with turf toe. It’s not as if the Giants are moving the ball flawlessly and just failing to reach the end zone, either. Their 4.66 yards per play is 29th in the NFL.

Bleacher Report: No. 31

In the long and storied history of the NFL, there has never been a season where both the New York Giants and New York Jets started the year 0-5. Until 2020, that is.

It’s getting more and more difficult to see a silver lining with these Giants. They repeatedly hurt themselves with penalties Sunday, racking up eight for 81 yards. Jones failed to throw a touchdown pass for the fourth game in a row—he has only two to go with five interceptions on the season.

At this point, the only thing standing between the Giants and the No. 32 spot in these rankings is their MetLife Stadium roommates.

Sporting News: No. 31

Start spreading the blues, New York and New York are the only winless NFL teams outside of Atlanta going into Week 6. The Giants did fight well with Daniel Jones, Joe Judge and Jason Garrett in Dallas, but even the Cowboys losing Prescott didn’t give the defense enough of a break at the end.

NBC Sports: No. 31

It would be wild if both the Jets and Giants go 0-16 and a tiebreaker determines the No. 1 overall pick. The Giants have been far more competitive than the Jets so maybe they’ll be able to steal a win from someone.