The New York Giants have been a surprising playoff contender all throughout the 2022 season in the wildly competitive NFC East, and they officially clinched a playoff spot in Week 17 after destroying the Indianapolis Colts. The Giants had a favorable matchup to book a spot in the playoffs, and they made sure to take full advantage of it.
With first-year head coach Brian Daboll leading the way, the Giants have pieced things together this season to emerge as an unlikely playoff squad. Things haven't gone as well for them over the second half of the season, but it's clear that they are a dangerous team as the 2022 season begins to transition from the regular season to the postseason.
The Giants still have to get through Week 18 before fully focusing on the playoffs, but it's a good time to begin taking a look at different playoff scenarios they could face and mapping out what could end up happening in those scenarios. So let's take a closer look at those scenarios and see what this big time win for New York means for them moving forward.
Giants playoff scenarios
The Giants had a lot of things go their way in Week 17, as they not only won their game, but saw the Washington Commanders completely crash out of the playoffs after losing to the Cleveland Browns as well. When all was said and done, the Giants found themselves locked into the six seed heading into Week 18, rendering the game completely meaningless for them.
The same can't be said for New York's opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, who would wrap up the top seed in the NFC if they could beat the Giants. It will be interesting to see what the Giants coaches decide to do in regards to resting their players in this game, but from their perspective, it doesn't really matter for them.
With a 9-6-1 record, the Giants cannot move up or down in the wild card standings. The five seed, which will go to either the Eagles or Dallas Cowboys, has been well out of reach for quite some time, and the Giants have insulated themselves from the seven seed thanks to their tie with the Commanders earlier this season.
That means that the Giants will be taking on the three seed in the NFC in the wild card round, which is still up for grabs. Right now, the Minnesota Vikings find themselves in the three seed, and unless they win and the San Francisco 49ers lose in Week 18, that will stay that way heading into the playoffs. The 49ers are the only other team who could find themselves as the three seed, as the Eagles and Cowboys both have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Vikings.
In terms of potential wild card matchups for the Giants, playing the Vikings would be about as favorable of a matchup for them as they could get. The Vikings have a ton of talent on their roster, yes, but they haven't proven to be very consistent throughout the season. Even in Week 17, they just got destroyed by the Green Bay Packers, who currently don't even hold a wild card spot.
The Giants played the Vikings back in Week 16 and very nearly pulled off an upset victory, losing by a score of 27-24. There aren't ever any bad playoff teams, and while Minnesota is 12-4, they have some major holes that seem likely to get exploited in the postseason. Whether or not the Giants would be able to exploit those holes remains to be seen.
The other potential matchup the Giants would have is against the 49ers, which isn't nearly as favorable. San Francisco is in the middle of a nine-game win streak, and hasn't missed a beat since being forced to turn things over to Brock Purdy, their third-string quarterback. San Fran looks as strong as ever, and New York likely wants to avoid them at all costs in this matchup.
For now, the Giants will have to figure out what to do in Week 18, because that also could have major playoff implications in the future as well. If the Giants advance out of the wild card, they would likely have to play the one seed in the NFC, which could end up being the Eagles. Do they want to rest their starters with their seed locked up, or do they want to try to make Philly's life much more difficult in the playoffs?
Chances are the Giants' decision will be made based on how they feel about their team, but they certainly find themselves in an interesting position. New York may not be a Super Bowl contender, but they could be a team set to make a sneaky little playoff run, and it will be worth keeping an eye on them over the next two weeks.
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