The John Harbaugh effect was very clear in the New York Giants' Week 4 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
The New York Giants looked like a completely different football team in Week 4. And I mean compared to what we had seen from the team for the last decade.
The Giants came away with a 36-24 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon, sealing the game with an interception for the second week in a row. This time, it was Deonte Banks picking off Jacoby Brissett and taking it back to the house for a touchdown.
New York improved to 3-1 on the campaign with the victory, and all three wins were unquestionably a direct result of the John Harbaugh effect.
The Giants have their first real coach since Tom Coughlin, and it has been clear as day through the first four weeks of 2026.
New York's last two wins in particular were concrete evidence of the change. Remember how many close games the Giants lost last year? Remember how many leads they blew?
Those days appear to be over.
In fact, on Sunday, it was New York staging a comeback, rallying from a 14-3 first-quarter deficit and tightening the screws defensively after falling behind 24-19 with 7:20 remaining in the third quarter.
The Giants did not surrender another score for the rest of the game, with what had previously been a dormant pass rush coming to life down the stretch — and without Brian Burns, mind you.
Not only that, but New York's secondary — which was a huge question mark entering the campaign — made some huge plays. Right before Banks' game-winning interception, he appeared to end the game with a fantastic pass breakup ... only to be called for a bogus pass interference penalty. Jevon Holland was brilliant once again, too.
Do the Giants need work? Absolutely. Would they have won in Weeks 3 and 4 against stronger competition? Debatable. But the fact of the matter is that New York is now winning games it certainly would have lost last year ... and pretty much every other year over the preceding 10-plus seasons.
The Giants have managed to snare back-to-back wins without Jaxson Dart, and they were able to hold a very respectable Cardinals offense to 270 yards of total offense on Sunday sans Burns.
Neither Dart nor Burns will return this season, which obviously paints a pretty grim picture for New York's chances over the long haul.
But all we wanted to see from Big Blue was progress in 2026, even if Dart and Burns were healthy. That progress has already been clear. The Giants won four games all of last season. They already have three through four weeks this fall.
Harbaugh's discipline has patently rubbed off on the Giants players, and it is manifesting itself on the field.
Next week, New York will face the Washington Commanders in another incredibly winnable game, so 4-1 is absolutely on the table.
What a wild start it has been for the G-Men.
