Vikings-Giants Wild Card Preview: Opponent Q&A on Xavier McKinney, WRs, More

We checked in with Giants Country's Patricia Traina for her insight on Sunday's big game.

Ahead of Sunday's wild card round game between the Vikings and Giants, we got the inside perspective on New York from Giants Country's Patricia Traina.

(You can find my answers to Traina's questions here).

What are some points of emphasis for the Giants this week after coming up just short in Minneapolis three weeks ago?

Play more of a mistake-free game. Not to take away from what the Vikings did, but the Giants didn’t exactly help themselves with all the mistakes they made in the first meeting. So they’re focused on cleaning that up because, as we have seen all year long with this team, they aren’t good enough to overcome their mistakes.

You might also see more of a commitment to the running game. The Giants, in the first meeting, looked to take advantage of the Vikings' pass defense, which, while I understand the logic, was a mistake because it took the Giants away from what had gotten them that far: the running game.

Because the Vikings' plan will likely be to slow down Saquon Barkley, I think the Giants have to get Daniel Jones more involved in the running game than they did the first time around.

How much can the return of Xavier McKinney and Adoree Jackson help the Giants' secondary?

A lot. Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale has already said that the return of those two will allow him to call the game differently. McKinney can help with T.J. Hockenson and, to a degree, Justin Jefferson, two players who shredded the Giants' pass defense in the first meeting. Ever since McKinney returned, you can definitely see more of a swagger and more aggressiveness in the defensive backfield.

As for Jackson, as I write this, I’m still not 100% he’s going to play—he’s sort of hedged his bets a bit by saying he’d see how he felt (one would think after several weeks, he’d be closer to a return and with the playoffs on the line, that he’d be saying there’s no way he’s missing the game). I’m also curious to see, if he returns, what his wind looks like.

I asked him about that, and he sort of ducked the question by telling me that he ran track, so he didn’t think his wind would be an issue. So we’ll have to see what happens there, but there’s no question that his return would be huge for the Giants.

Note: Jackson, the Giants' top cornerback, will play.

Do you get the sense that the Giants feel like they should've won that first game? It seems they're coming into this game with confidence that they can win on the road.

I do. As I noted in the first question, the Giants made several mistakes they couldn’t overcome. That they otherwise played the Vikings tight in tying things up at the end only to lose on a walk-off field goal was a big confidence boost.

I’ve said that the more the Giants can stand toe-to-toe with teams they’d be facing in the playoffs, the better for them. They did that against the Vikings and the Eagles (the latter with their backups), and although both games were losses, they weren’t blown out. So I think their confidence level is high, but they’re trying not to be too cocky in their approach to this weekend’s game.

Outside of someone obvious like Daniel Jones, who's a player New York needs to step up to win this game?

I’ll give you a position group: the receivers (Darius Slayton, Richie James, and Isaiah Hodgins). Although I don’t see the Giants throwing the ball 42 times again this week, the one stat that stood out to me like a sore thumb was one touchdown catch to three drops. That can’t happen again if this team wants to hang around in the postseason.

And along those lines, I’d like to see the Giants' tight ends get more involved in the passing game this time. Daniel Bellinger only had two targets last time, so I’m hoping offensive coordinator Mike Kafka leans on him a bit more to help open things up.

What's your prediction for Sunday's matchup, and why?

I think this will be another one-score game, but that said, I think the Giants will come out on top this time. I think defensive coordinator Wink Martindale will be able to crank up the heat on Kirk Cousins even more than he did last time with McKinney and Jackson back in the lineup. And I suspect the Giants will run more of a balanced offense this time, unlike last time when they tried to take advantage of the Vikings’ struggling pass defense. 

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