It’s an exciting year to be a fan of New York metropolitan area pro football teams. The Jets and the Giants, long afterthoughts or even laughingstocks in the N.F.L., are riding high. The Giants are 5-1 after rallying to beat the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday; the Jets are 4-2 after thumping the Packers in Green Bay.

Both teams won four games last year, so the Jets have already matched last season’s win total, while the Giants have actually surpassed theirs. It could be the first season both teams finish the season with winning records since 2010.

This weekend, the Giants play the 2-4 Jacksonville Jaguars, while the Jets face the 2-4 Denver Broncos. Yet despite all their early-season success, both New York area teams are underdogs in those games. The Broncos are 1.5-point favorites over the Jets, and the Jaguars — the Jaguars! — are 3-point favorites.

Even considering that the New York teams are on the road, which generally gives a roughly 3-point disadvantage, the lines seem puzzling. Are bookmakers not yet sold on the Giants and the Jets?

Number crunchers who evaluate teams and influence betting lines have not been particularly impressed with either team so far. The Giants are tied with the Bills and the Vikings for second-most wins in the league, and the Jets are tied for fifth. But Jeff Sagarin’s ratings at USA Today rank the Giants 23rd and the Jets 25th of the 32 N.F.L. teams. ESPN’s Power Index ranks the Jets 17th and the Giants 21st. Inpredictable, which uses bookmakers’ lines to construct a ranking, rates the Jets 22nd and the Giants 26th.

Why are the computers and gamblers so down on the Jets and Giants? Well, one big component of such rankings is point differential, and both teams come up a little short there.

The Giants’ five wins all came by single digits; they just haven’t dominated any team yet, the way the league’s elite do. The Jets’ last two wins were impressive: a 40-17 trouncing of the Miami Dolphins and a 27-10 win over the Packers. But their two other wins were close, and their two losses, to the Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals, were comprehensive.

A result is that the Jets have outscored their opponents by just 15 total points this season, and the Giants’ differential is only 14 points. They rank 11th and 12th in the league in the category.

Another important component to power rankings is strength of schedule. While the Jets have played a reasonably difficult schedule, the Giants have not; the Giants’ opponents so far are 16-19, and Pro Football Reference rates their schedule as 22nd toughest in the league. That means their 5-1 record has to be looked at with slightly cynical eyes.

So what aspects of the game are keeping the New York metropolitan area teams from being considered among the elite? So far it is their passing offenses.

On defense, their numbers are respectable. The Giants and Jets rank ninth and 10th in net yards per passing attempt by their opponents, showing they have the ability to stop the N.F.L.’s most important weapon, the pass.

But on offense, the Jets are 24th in the same category, and the Giants are 30th, ahead of just the Panthers (1-5) and the Cardinals (2-4). Those figures rely heavily, of course, on quarterbacks.

Of the 35 passers with at least 75 attempts this season, Daniel Jones of the Giants ranks 20th in adjusted yards per pass, and Zach Wilson of the Jets is 19th. (Joe Flacco, who started the season for the Jets before Wilson’s return from injury, is 33rd. The Jets aren’t expected to start him again unless there is another injury.)

The teams leading the N.F.C. East and the A.F.C. East, ahead of the Giants and Jets, show how important quarterback performance is. Josh Allen of the Bills ranks second, and Jalen Hurts of the Eagles ranks fourth.

Say all you want about good running games led by the Giants’ Saquon Barkley and the Jets’ rookie Breece Hall, but winning championships in the modern N.F.L. almost always requires a superb passing game.

So where does this leave the Jets and Giants? Even if some of the teams’ statistics are underwhelming, those early-season wins are in the books. That gives them both a leg up for making the playoffs, even if they come back to earth in the weeks ahead.

Through Week 6, the New York Times Upshot playoff simulator had the Giants as 78 percent likely to make the playoffs. The Jets, with one fewer win, were given a 49 percent chance.

But while the playoffs are a realistic hope, a championship parade is probably not. In part because of the shakiness of their underlying statistics, the Giants are roughly 50-1 to win the Super Bowl with most bookmakers, while the Jets are in the 75-1 to 100-1 range. That ranks the Giants roughly the same as the 3-3 New England Patriots and the Jets down with the 2-4 Cleveland Browns.

A lot can happen yet in the season, but for now think of the New York metropolitan area teams as overachievers who will need to do more to measure up to their gaudy records.