New York Giants Week 16 Storylines: Playoffs Within Reach

The New York Giants took care of business Sunday night against the Washington Commanders, boosting their chances to qualify for their first postseason berth since 2016.

That was the easy part. The hard part is, can they keep up that momentum this weekend when they have to travel to Minnesota on a short work week to face the "Comeback Kids," better known as the Minnesota Vikings?

If they can defeat Minnesota, who has already sewn up a postseason berth, the Giants will be in the tournament if one of three scenarios happens: a Lions and Seahawks loss, a Lions and Washington loss, or a Seahawks and Washington loss.

Any of those is realistic. Still, they won't mean anything unless the Giants take care of business on Saturday against the team that overcame a 33 halftime deficit against the Colts to win the game and who are no doubt still flying pretty high, given the historic accomplishment.

"You know what? I haven’t thought about it yet," head coach Brian Daboll told reporters during his Monday video call. "I saw, obviously, part of that game. Got to have great resiliency to do that and to keep fighting. Everybody’s down on you, and you just keep fighting and play the next play. So, a lot of respect for (Minnesota Vikings head) coach (Kevin) O’Connell.

"They’re doing a heck of a job there at Minnesota. And we got a lot of work to do to catch up on these guys."

Their postseason future depends on it.

Here are some other storylines regarding the week ahead.

Are Defensive Backfield Reinforcements Coming?

Daboll predictably didn't have any updates regarding the statuses of safety Xavier McKinney (hand/NFI) or cornerback Adoree Jackson (knee) other than to say both were making progress. But the team will practice Tuesday, and because their game is on Saturday, they will be required to issue an injury report for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday before heading to Minnesota on Friday.

If there was ever a perfect time to get those two big defensive pieces back, this weekend would be it. How much, if anything, they're able to do in practice Tuesday will go a long way toward revealing some clues.

Encore Performance?

Every so often, the Giants get one of those games where everything falls into place, and their big guys combine to make a series of plays that make them winners.

Last Sunday, that was the case, as quarterback Daniel Jones, running back Saquon Barkley, and defenders Kayvon Thibodeaux, Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, and Azeez Ojulari all chipped in with significant plays that made a difference. Can they and the rest of their teammates continue that trend and play complementary football?

"You know, playing meaningful games here in December is where you want to be," quarterback Daniel Jones said after Sunday's game. "But we still got three more important games for us, and we haven't achieved that goal yet. We still got to play well, and we'll take it one game at a time."

If all it takes is a spark to get on a hot streak, let's hope that Sunday's win over Washington is just what the doctor ordered.

Vikings' Approach

We mentioned that with their historic comeback win, the Vikings locked up the NFC North and a postseason berth. But if you think they'll take it easy on their visitors, think again.

Minnesota (11-3) is trying to catch the Eagles for the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff race. And with news of Eagles starting quarterback Jalen Hurts unlikely to play Sunday against the Cowboys due to a shoulder ailment, not to mention having the 49ers breathing down their necks, expect the Vikings to come at the Giants with all they have.

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