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The New York Giants are back in the playoffs after having missed out in each season since 2016. Thanks to big years from Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley as well as the leadership of first-year head coach Brian Daboll, the Giants find themselves set for a matchup against Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings. This NFL Playoffs Wild Card Round matchup should be a closely contested battle between the surprise Giants and a Vikings team eager to erase the label of “frauds” from their narrative.
The Giants ended the year 9-7-1, and despite finishing third in the NFC East, they'll be the sixth seed in the NFC Playoff bracket. A 6-1 start to the campaign helped the Giants reach the postseason, and now they'll be looking to rediscover that form after ending the season on a 3-6-1 skid. The Vikings have looked vulnerable, however, and, despite a 13-4 record, only six of their games this season were decided by more than one score. In short, the Vikings haven't been blowing teams out, but have escaped with many narrow wins.
The Giants could look to expose Minnesota in their Wild Card Round matchup on Sunday. With that in mind, here are four bold Giants predictions vs. the Vikings in their NFL Wild Card matchup.
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4. Giants sack Kirk Cousins 3+ times, force a turnover
The New York Giants' defense has been in the middle of the pack in most categories throughout the season. One area they've been strong in is their ability to rush the passer. This season, the Giants ranked 14th in the NFL with 2.4 sacks per game. That number went up to 3.0 per game over the past three weeks. The Vikings, on the other hand, surrendered 2.8 sacks per game, the eighth-most in football.
In other words, the Vikings struggle to protect Kirk Cousins, and that's something the Giants will look to take advantage of. We're expecting the Giants' defensive line, particularly Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux, to wreak havoc in the trenches. Our Giants prediction is that the defense will rack up three-plus sacks against Cousins and force at least one turnover against the Vikings.
3. Daniel Jones throws another clean game
Perhaps the most glaring improvement Daniel Jones has made this season is his accuracy and protection of the football. Formerly known as a turnover-prone, mistake-happy quarterback, Jones has eliminated all of those worries in 2022. He led the NFL with his jaw-dropping 1.1 percent interception rate, throwing just five picks in 16 games this season. Additionally, after fumbling 36 times in his first three seasons, Jones coughed the ball up just six times in 2022.
The Vikings' defense has been one of the better teams in the league in terms of forcing turnovers. In 2022, Minnesota averaged 1.5 takeaways per game, which ranked ninth in the NFL. When these two teams squared off in Week 16, Jones attempted 42 pass attempts, the second-largest volume of his campaign. He threw an interception in the game, but he still completed 71.4 percent of his pass attempts for 334 yards.
With the stakes even higher now, we're predicting Daniel Jones will rise to the occasion and record another turnover-less game against the Vikings in the NFL Wild Card Round.
2. Saquon Barkley rushes for 100+ yards with a TD
Saquon Barkley bounced back in a major way in his contract year in 2022. The 25-year-old rushed for a career-high 1,312 yards while scoring 10 touchdowns on the season. Despite his strong year, Barkley ended the year without eclipsing 100 rushing yards in any of his last seven games.
In 2022, Barkley had four such games with 100-plus rushing yards. He scored a touchdown in just two of those four games. During the last seven weeks of the season, during which he was held without a triple-digit rushing performance, Barkley still managed to score four rushing TDs.
The Vikings rank 20th in the NFL in rushing yards surrendered per game, averaging 123.1. The Vikings also rank 23rd in opposing rushing touchdowns surrendered, having given up more than 1.0 per game. Barkley scored a touchdown while rushing 14 times for 84 yards in their previous meeting, and we're predicting the Giants RB has a massive game in his playoff debut.
1. Giants prove Vikings are frauds in narrow victory
Are the Minnesota Vikings legit Super Bowl contenders? That's one of the most burning questions among NFL fans heading into the playoffs, and we may just find out the answer in the Wild Card Round. The Vikings have made a living off escaping close calls, but that won't suffice in the playoffs. With the stakes raised, the Giants have a chance to prove once and for all that the Vikings were pretenders throughout the season, and we're predicting they do just that.
Despite suffering a 27-24 defeat in Week 16, the Giants will have an extra chip on their shoulders this week, looking to impress in their first trip to the playoffs in more than a half-decade while also looking to get some revenge for their one-score defeat just a few weeks ago.
We're expecting the Giants to edge out the Vikings in another one-score game on Sunday, punching a ticket to the Divisional Round for the first time since 2011.
