As the New York Giants have already learned this season, the outlook of a season can change in a moment. One day, Big Blue is on the fast track to a playoff appearance, and the next, a quarterback injury derails the season. Another one of those moments struck when the Dallas Cowboys traded for Joey Porter Jr.
New York's NFC East rival sent a pair of picks to Pittsburgh in exchange for the former Steelers cornerback, bolstering a secondary that the Giants had torn apart just weeks before.
The Cowboys' defensive improvements, combined with a massive step back from New York's offense, have brought into focus a terrifying reality. The Giants may now have the worst offense and the worst defense in the NFC East. If that's the case, John Harbaugh's chances of taking this team to the playoffs in year one are all but lost.
Cowboys' Joey Porter Jr. trade has Giants destined for NFC East's basement
The Giants' offense has been a problem since the moment Jaxson Dart went down with a knee injury. In Weeks 2 and 3 combined, New York has the league's lowest EPA per play and second-lowest success rate.
Jameis Winston has struggled so much under center that J.J. McCarthy looks like an intriguing option. The Giants' offense might not just be the worst in the division for the rest of the season; it could be the worst in the NFL.
But through three games, the G-Men could at least claim to have a capable defense. Sure, the pass rush wasn't getting home, but with Jevon Holland forcing turnovers and the linebackers playing at a high level, the unit was at least getting by.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, have had one of the worst defenses in the league. Coordinator Christian Parker hasn't made the impact fans anticipated, and his unit has struggled to contain both the run and the pass.
But with Porter Jr. in the mix, that could change in an instant. At his best, he's a top-five cornerback in the NFL, capable of locking down his opponent's top receiver. That kind of presence lets the rest of the defense play more aggressively, send more blitzes, and commit more bodies to stopping the run.
Porter Jr. won't turn the Cowboys' defense into an elite unit, but he should make them competent. If that's the case, and the Giants' pass rush doesn't kick itself into gear, New York might have the division's worst defense.
The Washington Commanders deserve to be mentioned, of course, as they currently rank in the bottom ten in both defensive EPA per play and success rate. Dan Quinn isn't exactly working his magic in Landover.
But as the Commanders' young defenders come along and they get a few players back from injury, the unit could quickly become passable.
Either way, it's not a conversation that the Giants want to be in.
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