Remember when New York Giants fans were practically ready to apologize to Matt Nagy after that Week 1 win over the Dallas Cowboys? Four weeks later, those imaginary letters probably never made it out of the shredder.
At 3-1-1 and sitting near the top of the NFC East, the Giants have no shortage of reasons to feel decent about where they are. But the offense has been another story, and Nagy’s role as offensive coordinator is getting harder to overlook.
The four straight runs from inside the Rams’ 15-yard line in Week 2 didn’t help. Neither did whatever the first-half plan was against Washington on Sunday.
That leaves John Harbaugh in a tricky spot. He can’t just do what Sean Payton did in Denver or what DeMeco Ryans did in Houston and step in as a master play-caller to take control himself.
Those guys could make that move because they’re deeply tied to that side of the ball. Harbaugh has built his career around the third phase, managing the whole operation and working more like a CEO than a coordinator.
That’s part of why he’s so good at what he does.
But if Nagy keeps boxing the offense in, Harbs may have to turn elsewhere.
The problem is that the options aren’t clean. Greg Roman has a long track record as a stubborn, run-heavy play-caller, and Brian Callahan, the passing-game coordinator and QBs coach, may need time before he’s ready to handle the whole menu instead of just the passing-game portion of it.
Making that kind of change in the middle of the season would be a real adjustment, especially with Jaxson Dart out for the year and Jameis Winston trying to keep the team afloat. Still, the offense already showed it can look different when it needs to.
In the Week 5 tie against the Commanders, the Giants leaned hard on Winston, and he threw the ball 54 times for 326 yards and three touchdowns. He had only 17 pass attempts in the first half, when New York went into the break down 12-3.
Once the Giants finally let Famous Jameis rip it, the offense woke up. And that only made the slow start more frustrating. Why it took a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit for Nagy to decide something had to change is the part that sticks.
Harbaugh assembled this staff with experience in mind, but five weeks in, he’s already staring at a major decision if Nagy can’t straighten things out. Bears fans know the feeling. For a team that’s off to a surprisingly strong start and leading the division, it would be a shame if shaky play-calling became the thing that drags it back down.
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John Harbaugh Already Has The Giants Looking Smarter Than Expected
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The bigger test has come from what the team has lost, not just what it added. With Jaxson Dart and Brian Burns out for the year, the Giants have had to lean on depth, structure and a few roster calls that suddenly look a lot wiser than they did in the spring, including moving on from Wan'Dale Robinson and redirecting that money toward Isaiah Likely. [Read more 🡒]
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On the other side of the ball, rookie linebacker Arvell Reese has given the Giants a reason to feel better about the investment they made in him. He has settled in as an off-ball linebacker and already drawn attention from Pro Football Focus, which named him to its 2026 NFL First-Quarter All-Pro Second Team. For a first-round pick still early in his career, Reese is turning into a real factor for a defense that needs young players to hit. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Are Surviving Brian Burns Absence One Risky Way
Brian Burns absence has forced the Giants to lean into a more aggressive defensive identity, and Dennard Wilson has responded by dialing up pressure at a much higher clip. Injuries to key players have nudged the scheme toward heavier blitzing, and for a stretch it has worked well enough to keep New York afloat, with the defense producing seven sacks over two games as the team has gone 1-0-1.
The pass rush has clearly found a way to stay disruptive, but the tradeoff has been just as obvious in the run game, where the Giants have continued to bleed yards and leave themselves vulnerable to explosive plays. It is the kind of balancing act that can help mask the loss of a top edge rusher for a week or two, but it also leaves New York wondering how sustainable this approach really is if the front keeps having to gamble to create pressure. [Read more 🡒]