If I'd told you before the season started that the New York Giants would be sitting between the Patriots and the Saints in our Week 5 Power Rankings, you'd have said something like, "Wow! How'd they get into the top five so fast?"

These things are hyper-volatile at this still-early point in the season, and our latest poll has the 2-2 Pats at No. 16, the 1-3 Saints at No. 21 and the 2-2 Giants at No. 19.

That's a seven-spot jump for the Giants from last week's rankings, and an 11-point jump from two weeks ago, when they were 0-2 and contending for the dubious title of worst team in the league. The two games they won in five days last week have changed the perception of the Giants around the league, as people now view them as a team on the rise and figuring out its new offense as opposed to a team confused and incapable of scoring points.

The Giants' next three games are at home against No. 17 Atlanta, on the road at No. 6 Philadelphia and at No. 10 Dallas, which looked as good as any team in the league other than the Giants in Week 4. The bye follows, and at that point we'll have a better sense of what we're really watching and where the Giants sit in the league hierarchy. I honestly think it could go either way, and Giants coaches are cognizant of that possibility as well. Left tackle Will Beatty told me Monday that the message from the coaches this week is, "Continue to improve, and your bye week is going to be nice. Don't think you're there yet."