Following a depressing loss to the Vikings in Week 16, the NY Giants face off against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 17 in a game (on paper) they should win. If the Giants manage to pull off a victory in this contest, they are in the playoffs. Boom.
This would be the first playoff berth for NY since 2016, and considering how poor the Colts have performed this season, the Giants need to make this a statement win to show that they are not a team to mess with.
The Colts are 4-10-1 on the season and have suffered three brutal losses, including their game against the Vikings where they blew the biggest lead in NFL history, a 54-19 loss to the Cowboys, and their most recent game against the Chargers where they were defeated 20-3.
There are no excuses for the Giants to not win this game and honestly, if they aren’t able to come out of this matchup with a W, then NY simply doesn’t belong in the playoffs. However, if these four predictions come true then the Giants will easily defeat the Colts and guarantee their playoff appearance.
4. Nick Foles will have another disasterclass
Following the aforementioned blown lead to the Vikings, Colts head coach Jeff Saturday made the decision to bench starting QB Matt Ryan in favor of Nick Foles. However, in his first start of the season, Foles completed 17 of his 29 pass attempts for 143 yards, zero touchdowns, and three interceptions.
Obviously the secondary of the Chargers is a bit better than that of the Giants, however, it is still Foles at the end of the day. Where the real odds of the potential Foles nightmare comes into play is the pass-rush of the Giants, which has looked absolutely fantastic this season. Alongside the elite play of the Giants pass-rush is the fact that the Colts offensive line has been surprisingly bad this year.
The Colts offense as a whole has very little support for Foles, or any QB they play, especially with there being no Jonathan Taylor for the rest of the season. The offensive line of the Colts has allowed 24 sacks, with 14 of them coming between their two tackles, and their top three receivers have only caught seven TDs combined.
There are so many things going against Foles entering this week to where you almost feel bad for the former Super Bowl MVP. Hopefully the Giants don’t allow Foles to return to his prior form and he has a similar performance to that of his game against the Chargers.