NFL power rankings: Giants finish season No. 30 in aggregated rankings

It’s that time of the week: NFL Power Rankings. The (4-13) New York Giants lost their seventh straight game to finish out the season on Sunday. Now former general manager Dave Gettleman has retired and the team will now enter a long, hard offseason after their fifth straight double-digit loss season.

This week a pair of national media outlets slotted the Giants in at the league-worst 32nd spot, NFL.com and Sports Illustrated, to go along with NBC Sports from last week. Although this may not be the encouragement Giants fans want to hear, there is no place to go but up from here. It can’t get any worse, right?

Aggregating several rankings from around the Internet, the Giants come out to an average ranking of No. 30 (last week: No. 30) 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 18:

NFL.com: No. 32 (was 31)

The Giants have their work cut out for them this offseason. A proud franchise cratered in 2021, reduced to punchline status as loss after loss piled up and the team became increasingly non-competitive. Dave Gettleman conveniently excused himself from the mess he helped create, announcing his retirement on Monday. That officially puts Big Blue in the market for a new GM and team builder, but what about Joe Judge? Does the embattled head coach get a third year with a 10-23 record to his name? Should the inconsistent and injury-plagued Daniel Jones still be seen as the future at quarterback? This is one of those messes where anxiety comes from not being sure where to even start.

NBC Sports: No. 32 (was 32) No update.

CBS Sports: No. 30 (was 30)

They are a disaster and changes have to be made. Should Joe Judge come back? Doesn’t matter. He’s back.

ESPN: No. 30 (was 30) No update.

ESPN NFL Power Index 2021: No. 29 (was 28)

Sporting News: No. 30 (was 30) No update.

Pro Football Network: No. 28 (was 28)

Was there a more embarrassing team in the final half of the NFL season? The only time the Giants scored 20 points after their Week 10 bye was against the Chargers, a game New York lost by 16 points. In those eight contests, the G-Men scored more than 10 points just twice. They were without Daniel Jones, and with his absence came an absence of hope.

If the reports are true, and John Mara truly believes Joe Judge is his version of the great Bills (Belichick and Parcells), then they better start turning this franchise around. No team has a worse record over the past five seasons than the Giants. That’s sustained ineptitude.

Yahoo! Sports: No. 31 (was 31) No update.

New York Post: No. 30 (was 30)

A season-ending six-game losing streak – fueled by hideous backup quarterback and offensive line performances – sealed general manager Dave Gettleman’s exit and could leave head coach Joe Judge out of work, too. The Giants have 100 losses in 10 seasons since winning Super Bowl XLVI, a talent-deficient roster and barely any salary-cap space.

Sports Illustrated: No. 32 (was 31)

Points in poll: 8

Highest-place vote: 31 (2 votes)

Lowest-place vote: 32 (4 votes)

Season result: Fourth place in NFC East

It’s not just the losing, but the way they did it that helped sink the Giants to the very bottom of the rankings. But a pair of top-seven picks is a nice consolation prize after a season that went off the rails.

DraftKings: No. 25 (was 25) No update.

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.