NFL power rankings: Can Giants fall all the way to the bottom?

It’s that time of the week: NFL Power Rankings. The (4-12) New York Giants lost their sixth straight game on Sunday after falling to the lowly Chicago Bears, 29-3.

Ed Valentine may have said it the best in Things I Think, when he wrote “I think it’s impossible to come to any other conclusion right now that to believe the New York Giants are the worst team in the NFL.”

At least one national media outlet this week did choose to slot the Giants in at dead last in its power rankings. “The Giants only have Joe Judge’s propaganda machine. Don’t worry, Giants fans, improvements are being made in areas that don’t translate to wins on Sundays. Whatever the hell that means,” wrote NBC Sports. Ouch.

Most media outlets also attacked Judge’s 11-minute postgame rant on Sunday. I can understand the tone Judge was trying to emphasize but at this point anything he says will likely be heavily criticized after having lost this much. That’s what losing does.

Now the Giants will have one more crack at a five-win season this Sunday at home against Washington.

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 16:

NFL.com: No. 31 (was 31)

The Giants will end another lost season as the worst team in the NFC. They’ve been non-competitive in recent weeks, but Joe Judge remained defiantly optimistic in a postgame press conference/winding 11-minute monologue that didn’t do him any favors. “This ain’t a team that’s having fistfights on the sidelines,” the coach said after a 29-3 loss to the Bears. “This ain’t some clown show organization or something else, OK? You talk about the foundation built, you talk about the things that — the toughest thing to change in a team, the toughest thing to change in a club, is the way people think.” Judge sees foundation and a culture change, but does ownership really see progress in the past two years? If anything, Big Blue has regressed.

NBC Sports: No. 32 (was 31)

The Jags have Trevor Lawrence. The Jets have Zach Wilson and Robert Saleh. The Giants only have Joe Judge’s propaganda machine. Don’t worry, Giants fans, improvements are being made in areas that don’t translate to wins on Sundays. Whatever the hell that means.

CBS Sports: No. 30 (was 30)

Their offense is abysmal. It’s hard to believe it gets worse by the week and now Mike Glennon is out. Changes are needed after the season.

ESPN: No. 30 (was 29)

New Year’s resolution: Be competent

Is this really too much to ask? The Giants have lost double-digit games in five straight seasons. Joe Judge insisted after Sunday’s loss to the Bears that this “ain’t some clown show organization.” How about some tangible on-field evidence to prove that? The bar is low with the Giants in this year’s resolution, which is what happens when an organization misses the playoffs five years in a row and in nine out of 10 seasons. — Jordan Raanan

Sporting News: No. 30 (was 30)

The Giants waved the white flag against the Bears with no legitimate offense, defense or special to put on the field. Joe Judge seems to be a bit too relaxed about a total wipeout of the season.

Pro Football Network: No. 28 (was 28)

Well, I expected the Giants to struggle offensively, but I didn’t expect it to be so bad that they’d be down 22-3 at halftime while only throwing the ball TWICE! They’re truly not even trying to score at this point. New York ran the ball on almost every down, and they were just 1-for-5 on third down at the half.

I’m not sure how the product can continue to devolve further into a pumpkin by the week or how John Mara can continue to be happy with his decision to keep Joe Judge heading into next season. This isn’t just a bad football team – they’re an embarrassment. If they could move any farther down in the NFL Power Rankings, they would.

The G-Men limited their GM search to … whoever the heck is willing to work with Judge. Good luck!

Yahoo! Sports: No. 31 (was 31)

On Sunday Joe Judge gave the Giants an offensive game plan that wasn’t in any way trying to win (23 runs, two passes in the first half as the Bears took a 22-3 lead), then afterward he was spinning stories about free agents who left calling him saying they wished they had taken less money to stay. This is becoming a bizarre end to the season, and it doesn’t help that the Giants are entirely uncompetitive.

New York Post: No. 30 (was 30)

The Giants finished with negative-10 net passing yards (24 gained, 34 lost on sacks) against the not-very-good Bears. It was the worst performance in the NFL since the 1998 Chargers. Mike Glennon had as many completions as turnovers (four of each). Even the special teams –coach Joe Judge’s forte – is making silly mistakes.

Sports Illustrated: No. 31 (was 30)

Joe Judge’s strange post-game speech following the Bears game undermined what seemed to be a calm patch for the embattled second-year coach. The Giants wanted to run, but had no plan for a loaded box. This sums up the 2021 season about as well as one could expect. Jokes aside, I do think this staff deserves a mulligan year due to injury issues, with the understanding that expectations are sky high in 2022.

DraftKings: No. 25 (was 21)

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.

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