If the New York Giants underperform and finish among the league’s worst teams, they can officially make Colin Cowherd the scapegoat.
Cowherd and FOX NFL analyst Greg Olsen spent Monday afternoon raving about the new-look Giants, with both predicting that John Harbaugh, Jaxson Dart, and friends are in for a massive 2026 season.
How far was Cowherd willing to go? Apparently, he sees enough of last year’s New England Patriots in this year’s Giants.
As Cowherd explained, he was incredibly high on the 2025 Patriots, who hired a proven head coach in Mike Vrabel and paired him with second-year quarterback Drake Maye.
New England not only recorded its first winning season since 2021, but it also reached Super Bowl LX (ultimately falling to the Seattle Seahawks).
Cowherd won’t go so far as to say the Giants will win their first NFC title since 2011, but …
"I like [the Giants'] players," Cowherd said (h/t The Herd). "I like their draft. I like the coaching move."
Colin Cowherd’s Giants-Patriots comparison is significantly flawed
Olsen is also high on the Giants, noting that he believes a combination of luck and better coaching will work in their favor. The Giants went 1-6 in one-score games, including overtime losses to the Cowboys and Lions.
With that said, let’s hold off on invoking last year’s Patriots team when talking up the 2026 Giants.
Comparing the two is unfair solely because the Patriots reached the Super Bowl, and an argument can be made that they benefited from a league-wide string of bad luck.
Injuries decimated the Kansas City Chiefs before Patrick Mahomes’ season-ending ACL tear in December. Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow both missed significant time for the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals, respectively, both of whom fell short of the postseason. Daniel Jones had the Indianapolis Colts in prime position to win the AFC South before he and backup Riley Leonard went down, leading to Philip Rivers’ shocking return.
Add in Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix’s AFC Championship Game injury, and you have a Patriots team that took advantage of everything that fell their way.
But, as Cowherd noted, there was legitimate optimism about the Patriots last offseason. The trio of Vrabel, Maye, and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was in lockstep from the jump.
In theory, the Giants can easily enjoy a similar turnaround, though questions are mounting regarding their current receiving corps. Various analysts have also expressed skepticism about Dart’s durability and viability as a franchise quarterback.
The good vibes and optimism around the Giants haven’t departed, though, especially not in what could be a down NFC East.
For their sake, the Giants better hope that Cowherd didn’t just jinx them, not when they’ve managed only three winning seasons since their 2011-12 Super Bowl title.
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