The Giants remain New York City’s best NFL team. But that’s faint praise

Joe Judge's team had a comfortable win against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. But a playoff run looks well beyond them once again

Three days after he compared himself to the head of a stinking fish, New York Giants head coach Joe Judge led his team to victory on Sunday. Call him the Sturgeon General. His defense played so well that the opponent benched their quarterback (the achievement was tempered by the fact that the quarterback in question was Sam Darnold, who has recaptured the lousy form that saw him traded from the New York Jets).

The 25-3 victory over the Carolina Panthers hiked the Giants' record to 2-5 in Judge's second year as coach. That is a slight improvement Judge's first year in charge, when the Giants lost six of their first seven games. Because the NFC East was so horrid in 2020, the Giants rallied to go into the last night of that season with a chance to win the division title.