NFL Week 6 power rankings: New York Giants inch up

Respect will come grudgingly for the 2024 New York Giants — if they ever earn it. After an impressive win in Seattle in Week 5, their second victory in three games, the Giants inched up to No. 24 in our aggregated power rankings.

Can they keep that momentum going in Week 6 against the Cincinnati Bengals?

NFL.com (Edholm) — No. 23

Throw those Daniel Jones jokes in the draft folder for now, because he’s playing some good ball. Without Malik Nabers and Devin Singletary, Jones led a surprisingly effective offensive attack Sunday, overcoming some early mistakes to pull out one of the team’s more memorable victories in a few years. Jones got help from a breakout effort by Tyrone Tracy (129 yards rushing) and a turn-back-the-clock performance from Darius Slayton, whose 122 receiving yards were his most in a game since he had 129 in Week 5 of the 2020 season. And we should not forget about the roles played by the defense (seven sacks) or special teams (three field goals and a blocked field-goal try for a touchdown). This young Giants team has shown plenty of room for growth in the early going, but the results have been far more encouraging since the opening-game loss to the Vikings. New York’s 2-1 on the road and has three of the next four at home.

The Athletic — No. 21

We might need to have a Daniel Jones conversation soon. If you take away a rough Week 1 performance, Jones is 33rd in the league in fantasy scoring (17.34) this season. In the last four games, Jones is sixth in EPA per dropback (.18) and ninth in passer rating (99.3) among quarterbacks with more than 60 pass attempts. Entering the season, Jones’ career EPA per dropback was minus-.03 and his passer rating was 81.6.

Bleacher Report — No. 26

ESPN — No. 25

ESPN Football Power Index — No. 26

Pro Football Focus — No. 28

CBS (Prisco) — No. 23

Give Brian Daboll credit for winning at Seattle. They actually dominated for much of the game, which is a good sign for him. The defense impressed.

Pro Football Talk — No. 23

Winning without Malik Nabers is the best sign yet that there’s still hope.

USA Today — No. 22

Since his disastrous Week 1 return to the lineup, QB Daniel Jones has accounted for four TDs, one turnover and a 95.8 passer rating – including Sunday’s win at Seattle, when WR Malik Nabers and RB Devin Singletary were sidelined. Maybe paying Jones $40 million per is reasonable after all.

FOX Sports — No. 24

That was the Giants team we theorized could be a pain to play in 2024. Daniel Jones was decisive, confident and accurate. The Giants’ pass rush has been a problem most of the season, and that was on full display against Seattle. I’m not a believer yet, but I’m more intrigued than I was two weeks ago.