At 4:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, the NY Giants will take the field at U.S. Bank Stadium in search of their first postseason victory since Super Bowl XLVI, just under 11 years ago. That’s wild to even think about.
Thanks to the coaching of Brian Daboll, shrewd moves from general manager Joe Schoen, and the emergence of Daniel Jones as a quality NFL quarterback, the G-Men are in the postseason for the first time since 2016, and they’ve got an upset on their minds going up against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Giants will return to Minnesota on Sunday, just three weeks after their heartbreaking 27-24 Christmas Eve loss to the Vikings. The two teams match up evenly on paper, giving the Giants a prime opportunity to steal one on the road. Here are four bold predictions for the NY Giants\Vikings postseason showdown:
4. The Giants sack Kirk Cousins 5 times on Sunday
Kayvon Thibodeaux, Leonard Williams, Dexter Lawrence, and Azeez Ojulari have quietly become one of the NFL’s premier pass-rushing groups. Thibodeaux has burst onto the scene in the second half of the season, recording 23 tackles and two sacks in his last three games. Thibodeaux’s most important play was a strip-sack scoop and score in the win over Washington that all but secured the Giants a playoff berth.
Lawrence was just named Second Team All-Pro, and PFF has his 2022 season ranked ahead of Aaron Donald’s, further illustrating the unstoppable force Sexy Dexy has become. Ojulari and Williams have battled through injuries this season, but entering the campaign those two were viewed as the G-Men’s two best defensive players, and may just be this weekend.
The Vikings offensive line ranks 22nd in the NFL in team pass-block win rate, while Big Blue’s pass-rush ranks sixth in the NFL in pass-rush win rate. To make matters worse for the Vikings, star center Garett Bradbury is banged up, and starting right tackle Patrick O’Neil will miss the game.
The combination of the Giants ferocious pass-rush and ferocious blitz packages will have the bad and depleted Vikings offensive line on their heels all game, leading to five sacks of Kirk Cousins. It’ll be a game to remember for the unit up front.
3. TJ Hockenson has another two-TD game against the Giants
The Vikings are one of the most overrated 13-4 teams in NFL history, but the strength of their team is their offense, specifically their weapons. The combination of Justin Jefferson, K.J. Osborn, Adam Thielen, and T.J. Hockenson is a top 5 pass-catching group in the NFL while Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison form a top-10 running back group.
Simply put, the Giants cannot silence all those weapons. During the Christmas Eve matchup, the Vikings surprisingly struggled to run the ball, but two of their pass-catchers had monster days. Jefferson had 12 catches for 133 yards and one touchdown, while Hockenson hauled in 13 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns.
Wink Martindale loves to put his corners on islands and send the house to the quarterback, so don’t expect anything different this weekend. However, Xavier McKinney is back and Adoree’ Jackson will return to shadow Jefferson, and while it is impossible to silence him, he will significantly slow him down.
The Giants are most susceptible in the middle of the field, as they have a very weak inside linebacking core. The Giants inside linebackers Micah McFadden, Jaylon Smith, Jarrad Davis, and whoever is manning the slot corner position will have the task of covering Hockenson.
The tight end burned them last time and will be Cousins’ favorite target on Sunday, so it will, unfortunately, happen again. Hockenson will record another 100-yard, two-touchdown performance.
2. Daniel Jones throws for 3 TDs and 350 yards
The Vikings may have the NFL’s best group of weapons and the Giants may have the NFL’s worst. That didn’t seem to matter last time these two teams played as Daniel Jones completed 30 of his 42 passes for 334 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Richie James caught eight passes for 90 yards, Isaiah Hodgins caught eight passes for 89 yards and a touchdown, and Darius Slayton caught four balls for 79 yards. The Vikings secondary got absolutely shredded by three wide receivers who would likely be no higher than a WR4 on any other contending team.
It should be no surprise the Vikings secondary got picked apart. The Vikings defense ranks 31st in the NFL in pass defense, giving up 265.6 yards per game. Danny Dimes did throw an interception in the last matchup, but it was actually a positive sign, as he displayed a level of hyper-aggressiveness that he has been lacking this season.
Jones will continue to be aggressive and distribute the ball all over the field to his playmakers. Hodgins, James, Slayton, and Daniel Bellinger will all have highly productive games, and maybe we even get another Kenny Golladay sighting. After Jones 350-yard, three-TD performance Sunday afternoon, he will be the talk of the NFL world.
1. New York Giants Win 30-17
You heard it here first: the G-Men will win 30-17 on Sunday. When these two played three weeks ago, the Vikings won 27-24 on a 61-yard field goal as time expired, but the Giants should have won.
The Vikings played a rather clean football game, the Giants did not. Big Blue turned the ball over twice in Vikings territory, went 3-of-11 on third down, dropped multiple passes in the red zone, and committed seven penalties to the Vikings two. In addition to those mistakes, Jackson and McKinney were injured and unable to play.
That was a very uncharacteristic sloppy performance from the Giants in 2022, but they were clearly the better team on Christmas Eve. The team the Giants are bringing to Minnesota this weekend is healthy, and even better than three weeks ago, while the Vikings are battered and beaten up.
Led by Vanilla Vick’s three touchdowns, the Giants will pull away late in the game. Graham Gano will ice the game with a couple of late field goals, setting up a Divisional Round showdown with the Eagles.
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