Rob Gronkowski Picks Giants to Upset Vikings in Wild-Card Round

The former NFL tight end believes No. 3 seed Minnesota will be eliminated in the first weekend of the playoffs.

Former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski is excited about the league’s upcoming playoffs, starting Saturday with wild-card weekend.

As the drama begins on the gridiron this postseason—one that will feature four quarterbacks making their playoff debut and a league-record five head coaches in their first seasons with their respective teams—Gronkowski believes Saturday will provide at least one upset.

Gronkowski appeared on Up & Adams on Wednesday and shared that he thinks the No. 6-seeded Giants will knock off the No. 3-seeded Vikings on Sunday, citing Minnesota’s inconsistency this season.

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“Minnesota is a team that you don’t know what you are going to get,” Gronkowski said. “You can get a team that posed for the No. 1 seed, or you can get a team that wasn’t a playoff team at all. The Giants … they come prepared every week to play their best and Minnesota’s not. The Giants are going to have the upset.”

Minnesota ranks 31st among the NFL’s 32 teams in pass defense this season, something the Giants likely will seek to exploit. The Vikings-Giants clash is a matchup that features two teams with head coaches in their first seasons with their franchises in New York’s Brian Daboll and Minnesota’s Kevin O’Connell.

O’Connell became one of six rookie head coaches in NFL history to win at least 13 games, joining Jim Caldwell, George Seifert, Jim Harbaugh, Matt LaFleur and Steve Mariucci. The Giants (9-7-1) will face the Vikings (13-4) at 4:30 p.m. ET Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.