Giants Enter Bye 4-2-1 and Atop NFC East With a Plus-2 Point Differential
The Giants score 1.99 points per drive and allow 2.04, both near the league average of 2.10. Their pass rush ranks 11th in pressure rate since Week 4, when they began sending extra rushers, after ranking last in Weeks 1-3.
This piece was scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 27, and was published Thursday, Oct. 29.
The Giants go into their bye 4-2-1 and first in the NFC East, a game and a half ahead of Dallas, after scoring 163 points and allowing 161. Their offense has scored 1.99 points per drive, 19th in the league, and their defense has allowed 2.04, 14th. The league average is 2.10. Two of their four wins, 12-7 over Tennessee and 27-21 in overtime at Houston, were decided by a touchdown or less, and they are 1-0-1 in overtime games.
These figures are GiantsGator's count from nflverse play-by-play through Week 7, using the drive method from our Week 4 drives piece.
The standings
| Team | W-L-T | Division | Conference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giants | 4-2-1 | 1-0-1 | 2-2-1 |
| Dallas | 3-4 | 2-1 | 2-3 |
| Philadelphia | 2-5 | 1-1 | 1-4 |
| Washington | 1-4-1 | 0-2-1 | 1-3-1 |
Under the NFL's tiebreaking procedures, a tie between two teams in the same division goes first to head-to-head record and then to division record, and a tied game counts as half a win and half a loss. The Giants beat Dallas 28-20 in Week 1 and tied Washington 27-27 in Week 5. Four division games remain: at Philadelphia on Nov. 8, Washington on Nov. 12, at Dallas on Jan. 3 and Philadelphia on Jan. 10.
Division winners take the first four playoff seeds in order of record. If the season ended today, the Giants would be the NFC's No. 3 seed, behind Minnesota (6-0) and San Francisco (6-1) and ahead of the NFC South leader, Carolina (3-3 before Thursday's game at Green Bay). Chicago (5-2) and Detroit (4-2) would hold the first two wild-card spots.
The offense, by quarterback
The team named J.J. McCarthy its starter for the Houston game on Oct. 21. Coach John Harbaugh did not name a starter for the Nov. 8 game at Philadelphia in his Oct. 26 news conference, and the Oct. 21 designation is the team's most recent statement on the position.
Three quarterbacks have taken the Giants' dropbacks. Jaxson Dart started Weeks 1 and 2 and is out for the regular season, the team said Sept. 24. "He's not weight-bearing yet. So he's on his crutches," general manager Joe Schoen said at his bye-week news conference on Oct. 27. Jameis Winston replaced Dart after the first possession at the Rams in Week 2 and started Weeks 3 through 6, going 2-1-1. McCarthy had a short package in Week 5, relieved Winston in the fourth quarter against New Orleans in Week 6 and started at Houston, where Winston played five snaps and ran four quarterback sneaks.
Expected points added (EPA) measures how much a play changed the offense's expected scoring, and a successful play is one with positive EPA.
| Quarterback | Dropbacks | EPA per dropback | Success rate | Sacks | Drives | Points per drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dart | 38 | +0.55 | 65.8% | 2 | 8 | 3.50 |
| Winston | 178 | -0.08 | 41.0% | 15 | 55 | 1.55 |
| McCarthy | 49 | +0.28 | 42.9% | 4 | 16 | 2.75 |
| NFL | - | +0.06 | 45.4% | 6.0% of dropbacks | - | 2.10 |
McCarthy's 16 drives include five in the fourth quarter against New Orleans, each of which began with the Giants' win probability at 6% or lower. Those five drives produced 17 points.
Counting only plays and drives that began with the Giants' win probability between 10% and 90%, McCarthy's and Winston's figures move closer together, and McCarthy's success rate falls below Winston's.
| Quarterback | Dropbacks | EPA per dropback | Success rate | Drives | Points per drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dart | 29 | +0.54 | 65.5% | 7 | 4.00 |
| Winston | 146 | -0.04 | 41.1% | 47 | 1.60 |
| McCarthy | 33 | +0.13 | 33.3% | 11 | 2.45 |
| NFL | - | +0.07 | 45.3% | - | 2.16 |
McCarthy's 11 drives in that range were all at Houston. Among the 29 passers with at least 150 dropbacks, Winston ranks 25th in EPA per dropback, last in completion percentage over expected and third in average depth of target. Pro Football Reference charted him as pressured 39 times, and 15 of those plays ended in sacks.
Our Oct. 20 numbers piece found McCarthy's 19 dropbacks against New Orleans too few to separate him from Winston or from a league-average passer. Houston added 30. Our Oct. 22 piece found that his Minnesota numbers pointed to more under-center and play-action snaps at Houston.
| Week | Opponent | Result | Drives | Points per drive | EPA per play | Success rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas | W 28-20 | 7 | 4.00 | +0.37 | 60.0% |
| 2 | at L.A. Rams | L 28-6 | 10 | 0.60 | -0.43 | 27.3% |
| 3 | Tennessee | W 12-7 | 11 | 1.09 | -0.12 | 38.6% |
| 4 | Arizona | W 36-24 | 12 | 2.50 | -0.09 | 31.1% |
| 5 | at Washington | T 27-27 (OT) | 13 | 2.08 | +0.07 | 48.2% |
| 6 | New Orleans | L 34-27 | 15 | 1.80 | -0.06 | 43.3% |
| 7 | at Houston | W 27-21 (OT) | 11 | 2.45 | +0.24 | 40.6% |
Over seven games the offense has averaged plus-0.01 EPA per play, 14th, with a 42.0% success rate, 19th. It has scored touchdowns on 14 of 21 red-zone trips, 66.7%, eighth in the league; the league rate is 59.3%. Dart's drives scored touchdowns on all four of their red-zone trips, Winston's on six of 12 and McCarthy's on four of five.
The run game
| Back | Carries | Yards | Per carry | Success rate | EPA per carry | Yards before contact | Yards after contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cam Skattebo | 98 | 418 | 4.3 | 36.7% | -0.11 | 2.21 | 2.05 |
| Najee Harris | 31 | 99 | 3.2 | 22.6% | -0.40 | 1.26 | 1.94 |
| Tyrone Tracy Jr. | 19 | 55 | 2.9 | 36.8% | -0.24 | 1.53 | 1.37 |
| Devin Singletary | 18 | 80 | 4.4 | 33.3% | 0.00 | 1.72 | 2.72 |
On designed runs the Giants average minus-0.08 EPA per carry, 17th, and 3.98 yards, 15th, and 38.0% of their runs have been successful, 22nd. Cam Skattebo has 98 of the running backs' 166 carries. He averages 2.21 yards before contact, below the 2.47 for all ball carriers in Pro Football Reference's charting, and 2.05 after contact, above the 1.71 figure. He played six snaps against New Orleans and 37 at Houston, where he ran 17 times for 124 yards. Devin Singletary won the Houston game with a 30-yard touchdown run in overtime.
The Giants released Najee Harris on Oct. 20. Tyrone Tracy Jr. hurt his hamstring in the second quarter at Houston and went on injured reserve Oct. 27. "This won't be something that's going to be long-term," Schoen said. Tracy must miss at least four games, and the earliest he can play is Dec. 6 against San Francisco. The Giants signed running back Gregory Desrosiers from the Chargers' practice squad the same day.
The offensive line
Pro Football Reference charted Giants quarterbacks as pressured on 53 of 265 dropbacks, 20.0%. That is the seventh-lowest rate in the league; the league rate is 22.2%. The pressures have become sacks more often than elsewhere: the Giants have allowed 21 sacks, 7.9% of dropbacks, 26th. Fifteen of the 21 came with Winston at quarterback.
The pass rush
| Week | Opponent dropbacks | 5+ rushers | Pressures | Pressure rate | Sacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 36 | 6 | 4 | 11.1% | 0 |
| 2 | 32 | 11 | 3 | 9.4% | 1 |
| 3 | 36 | 10 | 4 | 11.1% | 0 |
| 4 | 39 | 21 | 9 | 23.1% | 2 |
| 5 | 37 | 24 | 11 | 29.7% | 5 |
| 6 | 32 | 17 | 7 | 21.9% | 0 |
| 7 | 30 | 12 | 7 | 23.3% | 1 |
| Total | 242 | 101 | 45 | 18.6% | 9 |
The Giants' season pressure rate of 18.6% is still the league's lowest, as it was in our Oct. 1 and Oct. 15 pieces. In Weeks 1-3 the Giants pressured the quarterback on 10.6% of dropbacks, last in the league. Since Week 4 the rate is 24.6%, 11th, above the league's 22.9% over those weeks.
The rise came with the extra rushers. The Giants sent five or more on 26.0% of dropbacks in Weeks 1-3, 21st in the league, and on 53.6% in Weeks 4-7, second to Minnesota. Against five or more rushers, opposing quarterbacks have averaged minus-0.14 EPA per dropback and been sacked on 7.9% of dropbacks; the league figures are 0.00 and 8.3%. Against four or fewer, they have averaged plus-0.19, and the Giants have one sack in 141 dropbacks. The league figures there are plus-0.09 and 5.0%. The Giants' nine sacks on 242 dropbacks, 3.7%, rank 29th.
Abdul Carter has 10 of the 45 pressures, the most on the team, and two sacks. Brian Burns had five pressures in the first three games before going on injured reserve. Arvell Reese has five pressures and 1.5 sacks, and Pro Football Reference has him blitzing 40 times, the most on the team. Dru Phillips has four pressures and two sacks, and Kayvon Thibodeaux has four pressures.
The secondary and linebackers
Opponents have averaged 6.17 passing yards per target against the Giants, fourth lowest in the league; the league figure is 7.08. The worst game was Week 2 at the Rams, 10.9.
| Defender | Targets | Completions | Yards | Per target | TDs allowed | INTs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deonte Banks | 32 | 17 | 149 | 4.7 | 4 | 1 |
| Greg Newsome II | 29 | 16 | 193 | 6.7 | 0 | 1 |
| Arvell Reese | 26 | 22 | 106 | 4.1 | 1 | 1 |
| Dru Phillips | 24 | 13 | 113 | 4.7 | 1 | 0 |
| Jevon Holland | 19 | 7 | 121 | 6.4 | 1 | 3 |
| Tremaine Edmunds | 18 | 17 | 152 | 8.4 | 1 | 0 |
| Tyler Nubin | 18 | 9 | 163 | 9.1 | 0 | 0 |
Jevon Holland and Greg Newsome II were out at Houston with concussions, and Tyler Nubin, listed as questionable with a neck injury, played one defensive snap. Paulson Adebo, activated from injured reserve Oct. 24, played all 61 defensive snaps at cornerback in his first game since playing 10 snaps in Week 1.
The Giants placed linebacker Tremaine Edmunds on injured reserve on Oct. 24. He had been listed with a shoulder injury that week, and the team has not said how long he will be out. The earliest he can play is Nov. 29 at Indianapolis. Micah McFadden, who had played two defensive snaps in the first six games, played all 61 at Houston.
Special teams
| Distance | Dominic Zvada | NFL in 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Under 40 yards | 7 of 7 | 97.9% |
| 40-49 | 1 of 3 | 79.5% |
| 50-59 | 5 of 8 | 69.3% |
| Total | 13 of 18 (72.2%) | 84.3% |
Dominic Zvada made his first nine field-goal tries and is 4 of 9 since, starting with the 27-27 tie at Washington. At Houston he missed from 56 yards in the first quarter and from 44 on the last play of the first half; by nflverse's model, the misses cost the Giants 9.6 and 7.8 percentage points of win probability. His eight tries from 50 yards or longer are the most in the league. Among the 31 kickers with at least eight attempts, his 72.2% ranks 26th. He has made all 12 of his extra points.
Asked Oct. 26 about Zvada's misses and whether the Giants should bring in other kickers, Harbaugh said, "We're not going to be doing that right now, no."
Against our preseason pieces
- Our season preview on Sept. 10 called the pass rush "the most productive unit on the roster." Its season pressure rate is the league's lowest; since Week 4 it ranks 11th.
- The same preview reported that a prediction market put the Giants at about 7.5 to 8 wins. The Giants have four with 10 games left.
- We reported Sept. 9 that the Giants would start Banks over Adebo. Deonte Banks has allowed 4.7 yards per target and four touchdowns. Adebo went on injured reserve in September and returned at Houston.
- Our Aug. 24 piece said the secondary's low ranking held up at safety, not cornerback. At cornerback, Banks and Phillips have allowed 4.7 yards per target and Newsome 6.7. At safety, Holland has allowed 6.4 and Nubin 9.1.
- Our Aug. 14 Zvada profile reported that two pre-draft evaluations tied his 2025 drop-off to short-range accuracy. He is 7 of 7 from under 40 yards and 1 of 3 from 40 to 49.
- PFF ranked the offensive line 23rd in August. Its pressure rate allowed ranks seventh lowest; its sack rate allowed ranks 26th.
The bye and the deadline
The trade deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. ET. "We have 14 days until the trade deadline, so we still have some time there," Schoen said Oct. 27. Asked how equipped the team is to make the playoffs, he said, "We're about to find out."
Harbaugh said Oct. 26 that the players would have five days off and be back Monday afternoon to start on the Eagles. Philadelphia is 2-5 after a 38-21 loss to Dallas on Oct. 26. The Giants play at Philadelphia on Sunday, Nov. 8.
How we counted: All figures are from nflverse's 2026 regular-season play-by-play through Week 7 as of Oct. 30, with Pro Football Reference charting (pressures, coverage, yards before and after contact) and FTN charting (pass rushers) published through nflverse. A drive is any possession with at least one snap, and points per drive counts offensive points only. Plays are runs and dropbacks, excluding two-point tries, kneel-downs and spikes; a dropback is a pass attempt, sack or scramble. Win probability is nflverse's model at the snap, or at the first snap of a drive. A drive is credited to the quarterback with the most dropbacks on it. Red-zone trips are drives the NFL's drive charts flag as reaching the 20. Pressure rate is Pro Football Reference's charted pressures divided by nflverse dropbacks; pressures allowed by individual linemen are not in that data. On Oct. 30 data Winston has 39 charted pressures, one more than when our Oct. 20 piece was published. The playoff seeding applies the NFL's seeding rule to the NFL.com standings; the Giants' place does not depend on a tiebreaker.