NY Giants remain in NFC Playoff hunt, believe it or not

As the second half of the NFL season begins, the NY Giants have an outside chance of making the playoffs as an NFC wild card for the first time since 2016

So, you’re saying there’s a chance …

Despite dropping six of nine games to open the season, and again sitting three games under .500 at the midway point, the NY Giants are very much in the thick of the NFC Wild Card chase as New York emerges from the bye.

If the regular season ended today, the NY Giants would be on the outside looking in.

But, fortunately for Joe Judge, Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, and the Giants, New York still has eight games remaining.

Here’s the current NFC Playoff picture, and how the NY Giants figure in it:

1) Green Bay Packers (8-2)

2) Arizona Cardinals (8-2)

3) Dallas Cowboys (7-2)

4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3)

WILD CARDS

5) Los Angeles Rams (7-2)

6) New Orleans Saints (5-4)

7) Carolina Panthers (5-5)

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8) Minnesota Vikings (4-5)

9) Atlanta Falcons (4-5)

10) Philadelphia Eagles (4-6)

11) San Francisco 49ers (3-5)

12) Washington Football Team (3-6)

13) NY Giants (3-6)

Currently, the NY Giants sit 1.5 games back of the Carolina Panthers for the seventh and final NFC Wild Card spot, but with victories already tucked away over Carolina and the New Orleans Saints, New York owns the head-to-head tiebreakers over those two teams they’re chasing.

Meanwhle, with one game remaining against the Washington Football Team, a win over their division rival in Week 17 wouldn’t just avenge a September loss but also boost the NY Giants’ record within the NFC East.

The NY Giants also have two games remaining against the Philadelphia Eagles and a home game against the Dallas Cowboys to stack up head-to-head victories and division wins.

As the second half begins, the NY Giants have the eighth-toughest remaining schedule in the NFL, as New York’s opponents have a .467 winning percentage.

The NY Giants remain a relative longshot to make the postseason, given that the Cowboys appear to be one of the NFL’s most complete and dominant teams, the Philadelphia Eagles are heating up and playing better football each week, and New York must still play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Chargers, and suddenly-hot Miami Dolphins, in addition to their division opponents.

But, stranger things than the NY Giants getting hot and sneaking into the NFL Playoffs have happened before.