NFL power rankings round-up 2026: How do Giants fare entering Week 2? - Giants Wire

The New York Giants (1-0) are coming off a thrilling 28-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys (0-1) at MetLife Stadium in Week 1.

It was the first regular-season opening victory at MetLife Stadium for the Giants since they did so during the venue's very first game in 2010. On both sides of the ball, the Giants displayed an impressive balance of poise and aggressiveness.

Moving on to Week 2, the Giants are preparing for a trip out west to take on the Los Angeles Rams (0-1), who are coming off a pretty bad beat in Australia to begin the season.

Even with the Giants' impressive win over their division rivals, New York is still a heavy underdog to begin Week 2.

Now, let's take a quick look at where Big Blue sits in the NFL power rankings entering Week 2.

Don't want to overrate them this early, but Sunday night's victory over the Cowboys was no fluke. This was efficient, smashmouth, John Harbaugh football, and the rest of the NFC East is officially on notice.

John Harbaugh's No. 1 goal is to get quarterback Jaxson Dart to take the next step. If he does, they can push for a playoff spot.

No team had a better offensive EPA per play through Sunday's Week 1 games than the Giants. Not even the Bears, who scored 59 points. What stood out was the impact new tight end Isaiah Likely had. He led the Giants with eight catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns. If the Giants' offense stays mostly healthy, perhaps this can be a surprise playoff team.

Jaxson Dart's strong outing helped New York play a solid game on Sunday Night Football en route to beating the Cowboys. John Harbaugh's Giants boast a strong offensive line, capable skill-position players, and a much-improved run defense. Given the Eagles' unconvincing win over the Commanders, the Giants might be the division's best team at the moment.

High expectations around the hiring of John Harbaugh were tempered by what seemed to be just an OK roster. But the Harbaugh era started smashingly, Jaxson Dart looked legit and the defense more than held its own against a good (or so we thought) Dallas offense.

So maybe hiring John Harbaugh was a pretty good idea.

Offensively Sunday night, New York was ruthlessly efficient. Jaxson Dart was poised and accurate. Cam Skattebo didn't have huge numbers, but he got the tough yards when he needed to. Tight end Isaiah Likely was a revelation in his first game with the team.

New York was 9-of-11 on third down. That's nuts. The defense remains a work in progress, but it made just enough plays against one of the NFL's best offenses a year ago to win the day—and a second straight contest with the Cowboys at Met Life Stadium.

It's still too early to say the Giants are good—the Dallas defense has been awful dating back to 2025. But they were in Week 1, and we'll find out soon enough how sustainable the improvement is.

It's a well-deserved leap in the rankings after John Harbaugh’s debut showed he has a tough, well-rounded and healthy team. When WR Malik Nabers is off his pitch count, this versatile offense is going to cause problems for everyone.

The Giants have reached their highest placement in my Power Rankings column in what feels like years.

Jaxson Dart had an incredible performance against the Cowboys. Granted, it was just Dallas, but the Cowboys were supposed to have a better defense this year. Dart was precise with all his throws and came up big in some clutch moments. If Dart can stay out of the blue tent, he could lead the Giants to a divisional title this year.

Likely was quarterback Jaxson Dart's go-to receiver, catching two third-down passes on the game-ending drive to go along with two touchdowns earlier. Overall, Likely caught all eight targets for 78 yards. The chemistry with Dart throughout training camp carried over to the season, to the point where it's easy to see Likely having a huge campaign despite never reaching 500 receiving yards in any of his four years with the Ravens. The performance was no surprise to coach John Harbaugh. "I mean, we paid him a lot," Harbaugh said with a laugh. "That's what we paid him for, and he did it."

If you purchase through our links, the USA Today Network may earn a commission. Prices were accurate at the time of publication but may change.