It's been 15 years since the New York Giants last won the NFC East. Four years since they last made the playoffs. And the last time Big Blue hosted a postseason game, Eli Manning was under center, Tom Coughlin was patrolling the sidelines, and the G-Men were on their way to stealing Super Bowl XLVI away from the New England Patriots.
It's been a minute... or two... or 7.889 million.
Apparently, John Harbaugh isn't in the business of waiting around. The Giants are 5-2-1 through nine weeks, sitting pretty atop the NFC East with a 2.5-game lead, and suddenly January football feels inevitable. NFL.com gives them a 66% chance of making the playoffs, while DraftKings has them at -220 to win the division. For perspective, Big Blue opened the season at +600, and the odds spiked as high as +1100 after Jaxson Dart's season-ending injury. How's that for a turnaround?
With Tuesday's trade deadline officially in the rearview mirror, it's time to see where New York stands in the NFC playoff picture. Let's just say Harbs has his guys in a pretty good spot. If the season ended today, we'd be looking at a Wild Card matchup that might have the football gods laughing themselves out of breath.
Giants' updated NFC playoff picture comes with a familiar Vikings twist
Here's how the NFC playoff picture stands entering Week 10:
Seed | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
1 | San Francisco 49ers | 7-1 |
2 | Chicago Bears | 7-2 |
3 | New York Giants | 5-2-1 |
4 | Carolina Panthers | 3-5 |
5 | Detroit Lions | 6-2 |
6 | Minnesota Vikings | 6-2 |
7 | Green Bay Packers | 6-3 |
First off, what in the what is going on in the NFC North? Chicago's leading the division, while Detroit, Minnesota, and Green Bay have decided to hog all of the available Wild Card spots. Sharing is caring, fellas.
But forget the NFC North takeover for a second. Take a look at who's sitting at No. 3 and No. 6. Poetic justice.
The last time Big Blue finished a season as the NFC's third seed was in 1997. Jim Fassel's 10-5-1 squad hosted the sixth-seeded Vikings in the Wild Card, only to blow a late lead and lose 23-22. Nearly three decades later, those same two teams are staring at a potential rematch with the exact same seeds. You can't make this stuff up.
But if we're going to take a trip down memory lane, why stop there?
The last time the G-Men made the playoffs was 2022, when first-year head coach Brian Daboll led his 9-7-1 squad into Minneapolis and knocked off the Vikings 31-24 in the Wild Card. Funny enough, that team also tied the Washington Commanders during the regular season. Now, four years later, another first-year head coach has Big Blue knocking on January's door, with another tie on the record. What are the chances?
Not to be outdone, there's also the J.J. McCarthy storyline, because apparently the Giants and Vikings don't have enough history as is.
Minny sent its former No. 10 overall pick to New York for a fifth-rounder after seemingly giving up on him earlier this season. Now he's 2-0 as Big Blue's starter, while the Vikings just traded a third-round pick to the Raiders to reunite with 38-year-old, you Vike that, Kirk Cousins. Imagine heading to MetLife in January to watch the QB you traded for a Jersey Mike's sub send you home in the first round of the playoffs.
Of course, there are still nine games left, so let's not start making playoff plans just yet. The G-Men have Washington coming to town Thursday night, and after the two teams tied back in Week 5, it'd be nice to actually settle things this time around.
But for a fanbase that's spent the better part of 15 years waiting for playoff football at MetLife, sitting in the No. 3 seed with a clear path to an NFC East title is a pretty nice change of scenery. If the Vikes do come to town, maybe the Giants can finally get a little payback for 1997 -- preferably without making fans wait another 29 years.
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