5 Storylines Ahead of NY Giants Week 16 Contest vs. Vikings

Here's some of what to keep an eye on in the lead-up to Week 16.

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) and interim head coach Mike Kafka will look to snap the tam's eight-game losing streak at home this Sunday against the Vikings. | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Three more weeks, New York Giants fans. Just three more weeks. 

Clearly, for the frustrated fan base, the 2025 campaign cannot end quickly enough. But for the players and coaching staff, they’re not looking at draft position or anything beyond one simple objective: to go 1-0 in the current week.

“Yeah, every week we're trying to go 1-0,” said left tackle Andrew Thomas. “The past is the past. All we can do now is take advantage of the opportunities we have left.”

Surely, though, that has to be hard to know that, even if they go 1-0 when they host the Minnesota Vikings this week, the only thing it will accomplish is to jeopardize their position at the top of the 2026 draft order.

But again, the players don’t want to hear that, and Thomas said that despite any frustration that might exist over how the 2025 season disintegrated into a pile of mostly unwatchable football, there’s little choice but to carry on.

“I don't think it's that hard, honestly,” Thomas said. “If you're a true competitor, every time you step on the field, you're trying to win the game. 

“I don't think we have guys in our locker room that are focused on (quitting). We haven't gotten a win, but we're, that's what we're trying to do.”  

Let’s take a look at the storylines for this Week 16 tilt.

Kicking It

Place kicker Ben Sauls will likely be the Giants' fifth kicker this season. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Giants will have their fifth kicker of the season after dropping Younghoe Koo from the roster. Ben Sauls is the only other kicker the team has on its practice squad, so it’s just a matter of whether the Giants sign him to the 53-man roster or use the three allotted standard elevations to make him active.

In Sauls, the Giants have something that they probably didn’t want to have to turn to: an inexperienced kicker. That’s a big reason why they initially stuck with Graham Gano despite his growing injury history. So who knows? Maybe Sauls might prove to be the long-term answer at the position they’ve been hoping for.

Kicking It Part II

New York Giants punter Jamie Gillan missed last week's game with a knee injury. | David Reginek-Imagn Images

Lost in the shuffle of the place-kicker woes is the fact that the punting situation hasn’t exactly been stellar either.

Per league stats, the Giants are ranked 31st in net punting yardage this season (36.4), just ahead of the Cleveland Browns (35.6).

The Giants are also ranked 29th in balls placed inside the 10-yard line (7.5%). They are one of five teams to place a punt inside the 5-yard line, and they’re dead last in opponents’ average starting field position off a punt (-28.5).

That’s awful production from the punt team. So, whether it’s Cam Johnston this week, who, in his Giants debut, hit a line drive that was returned for a score, or Jamie Gillan, who is dealing with a left knee injury, the only reason this would matter is that if Gillan can return, it would allow the Giants to use a practice squad elevation elsewhere.  

Healthcheck

New York Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux is still dealing with a shoulder injury. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux is still trying to work his way back from a shoulder injury that has now cost him four games. 

If he can’t make it, it might be worth it to see if the Giants just put him on IR, especially after rookie Abdul Carter seemed to finally get the message last week, putting in the work and delivering the best game of his young career.

Perhaps that showing takes some of the pressure off the Giants and Thibodeaux to bring the outside linebacker back. And who knows? Maybe if Carter starts to stack solid showings, Thibodeaux’s spot on the roster becomes obsolete?

Giants Run Game

Dec 14, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) runs the ball against Washington Commanders cornerback Antonio Hamilton Sr. (34) during the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

For as bad as the Giants’ run defense has been this season, the Giants' rushing attack has, of late, been pretty solid, as in ranked No. 10 league-wide in terms of total rushing yards (1,751).

The Giants are also ranked third in rushing first downs with 115 and have averaged one rushing touchdown for every 23.22 rushing attempts, which is the fifth-best mark in the NFL, per TruMedia (via Locked On Giants podcast).

They can thank the offensive line for all that.

“Our line does a good job of blocking who needs to be blocked, having a hat on a hat, and making a lane for the running backs,” said Tyrone Tracy, whose 504 rushing yards lead the team. 

“I also want to tip my hat to the offensive line coach (Carmen Bricillo), running back coach (Ladell Betts), and (offensive coordinator/tight ends coach) Tim Kelley because they come up with a great run scheme every week, allowing us to put  little wrinkles here and there.”

The Vikings' run defense, meanwhile, hasn’t been that much better than the last-place-ranked Giants. Minnesota’s run defense is 24th in the league, allowing 127.6 yards per game, and 13th in average yards per play (4.12). 

Given that the Vikings have the league’s fifth-best pass defense, the Giants’ ability to run the ball could end up playing a deciding factor in this game of pride between two teams that have been eliminated from the postseason.

Dart Bored

Quarterback Jaxson Dart, who has been sent to the medical tent five times in ten starts dating back to the preseason, has grown tired of the constant attention he receives after taking hits as a runner. While he understands that it’s part of the league looking out for his well-being, last week, after the game, he admitted he was perplexed about why he seems to draw so much extra attention.

Per TruMedia, Jaxson Dart has averaged 1.5 designed runs since returning from his concussion. Before his concussion, he was averaging 3.44 designed runs in his starting assignments. #JaxsonDart

— Locked On Giants (@LockedOn_Giants) December 17, 2025

If nothing else, perhaps the added attention (which we suspect stems from the spotter not signaling down to have Dart evaluated in the Chicago game when he did indeed suffer a concussion) will continue to help Dart be smart as a runner, something he showed last week in his three designed runs.

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