New York Giants' Week 17 Playoff Scenarios

It's "win and in" for the Giants this weekend against the Colts. But what happens if they don't win this week?

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Dec 26, 2022 7:01 PM EST

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On Sunday, it's "win and in" or the New York Giants, who host the Indianapolis Colts in their 2022 home regular-season finale.

But what if the unthinkable happens and the Giants, favored by odds makers this week, don't win?

Believe it or not, three other scenarios exist where the Giants can still get a postseason berth even if they lose to the Colts at home. Those scenarios are as follows:

Washington and Seattle must lose their games to the Browns and Jets, respectively, OR
Washington, Detroit (vs. Bears), and Green Bay (vs. Minnesota) all must lose their games, OR
Detroit, Seattle, and Green Bay all lose their respective games.

The easiest scenario is for the Giants to beat the Colts, giving them no worse than the fifth seed in the seven-seed playoff field. But if the Giants lose and none of these three scenarios occur, they can still get into the postseason if they beat the Eagles in Week 18 at Lincoln Financial Field.

In case you're wondering, while the Eagles can clinch the division and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs this weekend, if they were upset by the Saints, the Eagles would need the Cowboys to lose to clinch the division, plus losses by the 49ers and Vikings to grab the home-field advantage.

Giants head coach Brian Daboll, who has repeatedly rebuked attempts by the media to discuss the playoffs, did admit that a win for the long-suffering Giants fan base, which hasn't had much to cheer about for most of the last decade, would be something for the team.

"We work extremely hard each week to put a good product on the field, and one of the reasons is for our fanbase," Daboll said Monday. "To play at home in late December in an important game, it’s important to us. I know it’s important to them. And we’ll do everything we can to be ready to go."