NFL power rankings: Giants bump up after upset victory

It’s that time of the week: NFL Power Rankings. The (3-6) New York Giants netted an upset home win over the (5-3) Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, upping their win total to three games. It was a game that New York needed if they were looking to turn around their season. The Giants now head to the bye week with a renewed confidence as they look forward to a road date with the reigning champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers on November 22. They’ve won two of the last three after starting the season 1-5.

To put it nicely, they’re “not dead yet,” as NBC remarked. While most outlets below improved the Giants rankings, most bumped them up within one to two spots (excluding DraftKings). NFL.com was the most generous, ranking the Giants 23rd in the NFL. NFL.com also proclaimed that the Giants defense “is here now.” Let’s hope that’s true, Giants fans.

Aggregating several rankings from around the Internet, the Giants come out to an average ranking of No. 25 (last week: No. 26) in the 32-team NFL. Our figure averages all the rankings below except for DraftKings, which bases its ranking on point spread differential.

Let’s check out what outlets around the league are saying about the Giants after Week 9:

NFL.com: No. 22 (was 25)

The arrival has come later than expected, but the defense is here now. The Giants harassed the Raiders into three turnovers on Sunday, including a pick-six and the Derek Carr strip-sack in the final minute en route to a 23-16 win at MetLife Stadium. These have been gutty recent performances by New York, which played once again without star running back Saquon Barkley or top receiver Sterling Shepard. Daniel Jones has steadied the ship on offense, but it’s Patrick Graham’s defense that’s making New York relevant again: Big Blue has allowed just 13 points per game over the past three games after giving up 29.5 points on average in their first six contests. That’ll play.

NBC Sports: No. 26 (was 26)

Don’t look now but the Giants enter the bye week at 3-6 and have five of their final eight games against the Bears, Eagles (twice), Dolphins and WFT. Not dead yet.

CBS Sports: No. 24 (was 26)

They’ve played much better the past few weeks, even if it might be too late to make a run. They’ve fought through a lot of injuries as they head to their bye.

ESPN: No. 26 (was 26)

Bold second-half prediction: QB Daniel Jones doubles his number of TD passes.

The numbers don’t look great for the Giants quarterback, with just eight touchdown passes through nine games. But it’s not like he is playing poorly. In fact, he has been pretty solid despite playing with a injury-ravaged supporting cast. The touchdowns will come in the second half, even if it’s in one fewer game. Jones will throw 16 touchdown passes in the second half of the season to finish with 24, in part because he will have a healthier cast of weapons and more help. — Jordan Raanan

ESPN Football Power Index: No. 24 (-2.9)

Sporting News: No. 25 (was 27)

The Giants were giant-killers again at home, adding the Raiders to the list after the Saints upset earlier. Daniel Jones worked to keep it clean and their defense came through. Don’t give up on Joe Judge and his staff just yet.

Pro Football Network: No. 25 (was 26)

The Giants were outplayed in this game, but it didn’t matter. Daniel Jones threw for 110 yards. They went 0-for-2 in the red zone offensively. But the defense held up strong against a very potent Raiders offense, holding them to just 1 TD and 3 FGs.

But even as the Giants struggled to get to or score inside the red zone, the Raiders also refused to capitalize inside the 20-yard line, going just 1-of-6. New York safety Xavier McKinney also managed to intercept two Derek Carr passes, one of which went for a touchdown.

The Giants’ offensive line is still awful, but if their defense can be opportunistic and they can take care of the football, they can keep games close enough to give them a chance down the stretch.

Yahoo! Sports: No. 26 (was 24)

Safety Xavier McKinney, a high second-round pick in the 2020 class, had two interceptions including a key pick-six that led the Giants to a win on a day they had 110 yards passing. McKinney missed most of his rookie season due to injury. Maybe he’s breaking out in year two.

New York Post: No. 23 (was 27)

Make it three straight strong defensive performances on the heels of the back-to-back flops against the Cowboys and Rams. The Giants need to ride the defense because reaching 20 points often is a struggle and reaching 30 has happened just once in 25 games under Joe Judge. Only three of the remaining eight opponents have a winning record.

Sports Illustrated: No. 24 (was 28)

Points in poll: 55

Highest-place vote: 21 (1 vote)

Lowest-place vote: 26 (2 votes)

Preseason rank: 21

Under Joe Judge, the team continues to vacillate between gritty, worthwhile opponent and green, incompetent newcomer. The source of the problem seems to be an uninspiring offense and an understocked defense. Can Dave Gettleman orchestrate a quick fix this offseason, or will he be entrusted to?

DraftKings: No. 14 (was 20)

DraftKings has moved from subjective assessments to using spread differential. Point differential is a helpful tool for figuring out the best and worst teams. However, point spread can offer a little more context to how good or bad teams might be. We see a lot of the usual suspects up top, with Arizona and Tennessee leading the way. Buffalo remains high up thanks to some previous big wins to help cushion an ugly loss as a huge favorite.

You can see all of the lines on upcoming Giants games at DraftKings Sportsbook.