Two years ago it was the Houston Texans. Last season it was the Washington Commanders. This year it is …

Every National Football League season seems to produce at least one team that no one saw coming that rose from last place in their division to a postseason berth. The Texans improved from a 3-13-1 record in 2022 to the playoffs which included an opening postseason victory over the Cleveland Browns, 45-14.

Last year, the Commanders, who like the Texans of 2023, had a first-year head coach and rookie quarterback, and ended years of dismal cellar-dwelling seasons to advance to the postseason and earn a pair of wins in January over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and top seed Detroit Lions.

For the record, both these breakout campaigns ended before either the Texans or Commanders advanced to the Super Bowl. But spectacular improvements in the regular season and postseason wins spiked the enthusiasm of their fans.

Okay, a rookie quarterback and first-year head coach was the formula that produced the two most recent dramatic shifts in fortunes. While that is not a common combination to strike winning gold, changes in franchises from the previous year is a necessary ingredient to expect dramatic improvement.

Stick with what you’ve got and hope for the best is a formula the New York Giants seem to rely on, and it has not produced any positive results over the past number of seasons. This year, they have made a shift at quarterback, but if they think that a veteran on the shadowy side of his career is the answer, namely Russell Wilson, well that’s the Giants way.