The New York Giants were not expected to be competitive in 2022, but a surprising 2-0 start has made them one of the league's undefeated teams. They're playing better on both sides of the ball, backed by a new coaching staff led by Brian Daboll and his aggressive mentality. Kick a game-tying extra point against Tennessee? Run on third-and-long and punt to give Carolina one more drive? No thank you. The Giants play to win.
So why are the Giants only 18th in the Football Outsiders' DVOA ratings? It would be understandable if these ratings included prior data; that's part of why the Giants are so low in the ESPN FPI ratings, for example. But the DVOA ratings are only based on the first two games, and they don't even include opponent adjustments this early in the season, so it isn't an issue of the Giants getting dinged for beating a bad Carolina team and a declining Tennessee squad.
It turns out the Giants have been somewhat lucky in escaping with two close wins to start the season. When we drill down to their play-by-play performance with DVOA, we find that the Giants are one of the weakest 2-0 teams we've ever measured, going back to 1981.
Let's take a look at the worst 2-0 starts here and see how these teams compare to this year's G-Men.