New York Giants: Giants Playoff Picture
By Michael Stewart
The Giants took one step closer to securing a wild card spot with arguably their biggest win (beating Dallas 10-7) since winning the Super Bowl back in 2011. At 9-4, the Giants will face the Lions, Eagles and Redskins to close out the season. One win out of the remaining 3 should give the Giants their 1st playoff berth since 2011.
However, mathematically that may not be enough as the three teams currently on the outside looking in have all beaten the Giants this season (Green Bay, Minnesota and Washington) and all have a mathematically chance to seek in. The Giants currently now have a 79% chance of making the playoffs entering week 14 and that percentage could increase considerably if the Giants beat the Lions and the Packers, Vikings and Redskins either lose or tie; then the Giants are in.
The Packers will be at Chicago in a divisional matchup that in all probability result in a Packer’s win, unless the football gods throw a wrench into the playoff picture. The Vikings will be hosting the Colts and that should be a fun game to watch as the Colts are playing well and could go into Minnesota and steal a win on the road. Finally, the Redskins will host the Panthers on Monday Night and that also should be entertaining and could go either way.
Now here’s the ace card in this playoff picture. Tampa stands at 8-5 and currently has the other wild card spot along with the Giants. With games against Dallas, New Orleans and Carolina remaining (2 out of 3 away), the Buccaneers could be the odd team out as they could easily lose 2 out of 3 or perhaps all 3. The Packers in my opinion are the team to watch out for as they have been playing better and will play all division rivals in the final 3 games (Bears, Vikings, Lions) It would not surprise me if the Buccaneers falter and the Packers seek in and secure a wild card spot along with the Giants.
Back to the Giants; beating the Lions is a must as it will be their final home game; as they don’t want to travel to Philadelphia and Washington needing to win one of them. 10 wins should secure a spot and give the Giants their 1st playoff appearance in 5 years. Worse scenario would be if the Giants lose to Detroit and Philadelphia and must beat the Redskins in the final game of the year at Washington to make the playoffs. Hopefully; this won’t be the case and the Giants can take care of business this coming Sunday against the Lions.