John Harbaugh quickly improved the New York Giants’ preparation, situational awareness, aggression, and win-loss record. Still, he needed a little more time to fix their penalty problem.
Well, it looks like he's starting to solve that Rubik’s Cube, too. The Giants have now accumulated fewer than 50 penalty yards in back-to-back games, something they couldn’t do last season.
Under their new head coach, Big Blue has gone from a frequent offender toward the top half of the league. The referee report suggests that the positive trend may continue in Week 6.
Lead official Alex Kemp and his crew will work Sunday afternoon’s home matchup versus the New Orleans Saints, according to Football Zebras. Kemp’s crew has issued just 54 penalties for 451 yards, ranking second and fifth among all crews this season.
Kemp looks like an excellent draw on paper, but the Giants haven’t seen him in a while. And when they did, it was not pretty.
During the 2024 season opener, New York got hit with nine penalties for a whopping 95 yards in a 28-6 loss against Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings. Adding more concern, Kemp’s penalty total spiked in last Sunday’s AFC South clash between the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans.
The Titans, at home, were assessed 83 penalty yards, and the visiting Texans were flagged 11 times for 95 yards. This is an anomaly for 2026, though. The Giants and their fans can only hope that Kemp and company revert to their usual modest count.
Kemp’s crew has a couple of new faces, including side judge Jim Quirk and replay assistant Kris Raper.
They join umpire Brandon Ellison, down judge Mike Carr, line judge Rusty Baynes, field judge Sean Petty, and back judge Scott Helverson. Julie Johnson, previously the crew’s replay assistant, is now the replay official.
The Giants must focus on what they can control, and they have been doing an excellent job at that lately. Their 301 penalty yards-against ranks 18th in the NFL, a clear sign of improvement.
There is still plenty to fix in that area, but this squad is playing with much more discipline over the last couple of games. The upcoming meeting with New Orleans will be a good test to see how much the Giants have truly changed.
Last season against the Saints, New York blew a 14-3 lead, committed a nauseating five turnovers, and racked up eight penalties for 95 yards in a 26-14 loss in the Caesars Superdome.
Harbaugh aims to change that result this time around.
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