Who Has the Edge Between the Jets and Giants This NFL Season and Beyond?

For the first time in two decades, the New York metropolitan area's two NFL teams—the Giants and Jets—are both on track to make the playoffs with winning records.

Between 2017 and 2021, those two squads ranked last in their respective conferences with horrendous matching 22-59 records. But now, after the Jets shocked the Buffalo Bills during the Giants' Week 9 bye, those two are 6-3 and 6-2, respectively. Both are sitting pretty in wild-card spots and remain in contention in their divisions as well.

So between Gang Green and Big Blue, which MetLife Stadium denizen is in better shape for the short and long term? Let's compare 'em.

What the stats say about this season

Using the simple rating system (SRS) at Pro Football Reference, which combines point differential and strength of schedule to measure a team's performance above or below average, the Jets rank seventh in the NFL and the Giants rank 12th.

Meanwhile, in terms of DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) at Football Outsiders, the Jets rank 8th and the Giants 19th.

Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Both defenses have surrendered exactly 19.6 points per game, but only a handful of teams have better defensive DVOA totals than Gang Green's. Meanwhile, the Jets offense has also been slightly more productive in terms of scoring, yardage and red-zone production.

The Jets are outscoring generally tougher opponents by 2.2 points per game, compared to 0.8 for the Giants.

What the dynamics and upcoming paths indicate about this season

The Jets' schedule is set to lighten up when it comes to opponent DVOA, but it still remains one of the toughest in football. It's been extremely difficult to date and is tougher than the Giants' slate regardless, at least in that metric.

The point is, they're more battle-tested than the G-Men. They already have sweet victories at Cleveland, at Pittsburgh, vs. Miami (by 23 points), at Green Bay, at Denver and vs. Buffalo under their belts. They still have to travel to New England, Minnesota, Buffalo and Miami, but there's little reason to believe they can't hang in most of those outings, and the remaining home schedule is soft.

They'll miss the newly injured Sheldon Rankins, but rookie cornerback Sauce Gardner is becoming a bigger star every week, and an increasingly healthy Zach Wilson inarguably has more upside than Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. The 23-year-old Wilson is a sophomore No. 2 overall pick coming off a strong performance against a Super Bowl favorite, while the 25-year-old Jones has seen his passer rating drop in back-to-back unimpressive passing performances.

Still, Jones has better overall numbers than Wilson this season—and his 363 yards and three touchdowns as a rusher can't be overlooked. The problem is the challenges haven't been as tall, and he and the Giants were exposed at home against the best team they've played this year (Dallas in Week 3). Can they be trusted at Dallas on Thanksgiving? What about in Minnesota on Christmas Eve? And they still have to play the undefeated-to-this-point Philadelphia Eagles twice.

Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Injury luck has generally been on the Giants' side this year, but now safety Xavier McKinney is out a while and good fortune from the injury gods isn't something anybody can count on.

What the current dynamics indicate about the long-term future

With Gardner and rookie offensive cogs Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall already shining, with hope there for Wilson, and with the veteran contributions of guys like Quinnen Williams, D.J. Reed Jr., and Corey Davis factoring in, it's hard not to figure the future is bright for a Jets team that appears to have finally found the right head coach in Robert Saleh.

There are naturally more questions about Jones because he's two years deeper into his career than Wilson. And while the Giants also have an arguably underrated mix of young (Jones, Saquon Barkley, Andrew Thomas, McKinney, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Evan Neal, Daniel Bellinger, Azeez Ojulari) and older (Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, Darius Slayton, Adoree Jackson) talent, it's hard to give them an edge over their East Rutherford roommates.

Elsa/Getty Images

Using a first-round draft pick on Kadarius Toney while the Jets loaded up on early-round draft talent the past two years factors into that equation, as does the fact that both Barkley and Jones have contracts that expire in a matter of months for Big Blue.

Still, a lot could change in the weeks, months and years to come, and Brian Daboll could have plenty of room for growth just eight games into his head-coaching career.

The debate between the Jets and Giants is a valid and close one. If New York NFL fans are lucky, it's one that could last for a while.