The Giants look like the worst team in NFL history, plus more in our weekly power rankings.
Once upon a time, the New York Giants were the kings of the football world. Led by Eli Manning, a quarterback who bumbled around every regular season before occasionally turning the jets on in the playoffs, Big Blue captured two Super Bowl championships in five seasons (2007, 2011). New York and all of its fans sat on top of the world, sharing pro football’s luxurious crown.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Over a decade later, in 2023, the Giants are just 2-8. They’ve won one game since the fall equinox and are more or less getting their clocks cleaned every week. This team is wholly uncompetitive and deserves respect from no one — even their loyal fans. The Giants have finally hit rock bottom and might end up being known as the worst squad in modern NFL history.
Here’s my pal Christian D’Andrea with more in a (depressing) column:
“The schedule over the back end of the schedule isn’t intimidating. Next week brings a game against a Washington Commanders team Tyrod Taylor beat 14-7 in Week 7. Half of New York’s six opponents after that have three wins or fewer after Week 10. The Giants may not only be competitive in these games, but could even win them.
Buuuuut, this is also a team that faced a then 3-5 Las Vegas Raiders team led by fourth-round rookie Aidan O’Connell and an interim head coach and lost 30-6. It managed negative-nine net passing yards in a Week 8 loss to the New York Jets. There are several bad teams in the Giants’ sights, and New York may be significantly worse than all of them.”
Woof. Brutal in every sense of the word.
What’s apparent to me is this is the Giants’ penance. For what, you might ask? For winning not one but two championships with a quarterback who had a career 84.1 passer rating and threw more than 240 interceptions in just 16 seasons. Congratulations to Giants fans. Though this misery might be short-lived depending on their draft fortunes, the Giants are finally paying the price for climbing the NFL’s summit with a signal-caller perhaps now more known for the Monday night sideshow with his more accomplished brother than anything he achieved on the field.
Elsewhere in For The Win‘s Week 11 NFL power rankings, we try to make sense of a gaggle of inconsistent contenders. Everyone seems fatally flawed, and nothing jives with conventional logic regarding championship “contenders.” What a time to be alive.
