The New York Giants continued to show a newfound sense of fight in interim head coach Mike Kafka's second game at the helm. However, they nearly messed around and battled a little too hard against the Detroit Lions.
New York isn't playing for much more than pride at this point in the season, but you were hardly able to tell in Detroit. They left it all out on the field and nearly upset a squad with legitimate Super Bowl LX aspirations. Nevertheless, despite being ahead for much of the contest, the Giants suffered a loss that did more good than harm – yes, you read that correctly.
Typically, blowing a double-digit lead can force an organization to look inward. But in this case, the Giants did themselves a massive favor, at least with respect to the race for this year's No. 1 pick.
Don't believe us? Here's a look at the updated 2026 NFL Draft order following the Week 12 slate of action, including Big Blue falling to the Lions.
Updated 2026 NFL Draft order after Giants' surprising win over Lions
- Tennessee Titans
- New York Giants
- New York Jets
- Cleveland Browns
- New Orleans Saints
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Washington Commanders
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Atlanta Falcons (to Los Angeles Rams)
- Arizona Cardinals
- Miami Dolphins
- Minnesota Vikings
- Dallas Cowboys
- Carolina Panthers
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Houston Texans
- Detroit Lions
- Baltimore Ravens
- Jacksonville Jaguars (to Cleveland Browns)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Buffalo Bills
- San Francisco 49ers
- Green Bay Packers (to Dallas Cowboys)
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Chicago Bears
- Seattle Seahawks
- Indianapolis Colts (to New York Jets)
- Los Angeles Rams
- Denver Broncos
- Philadelphia Eagles
- New England Patriots
It's hard to call this game meaningless, given the consequences that came with prevailing. Beating the Lions could've been the difference between the Giants currently holding the second overall selection or dropping down to as low as seventh.
Yet, seeing the Giants win after falling out of playoff contention is nothing new to fans; remember Tommy "Cutlets" DeVito's 2023 stretch run? He went 3-3 in six starts amid a lost campaign and became an instant sensation.
DeVito's emergence deprived the G-Men of a consensus top passer from an elite class of prospects: Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye. New York was fortunate enough to recover by landing standout rookie Jaxson Dart as their signal-caller of the future. General manager Joe Schoen and the front office can't bet on lightning striking twice, so the result in Detroit helps in the long run.