NFC playoff picture: Giants still in playoffs, but their odds are shrinking

The New York Giants are still a playoff team, but their margin for error is definitely shrinking after three losses in four games.

After Thursday’s 28-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the 7-4 Giants sit as the No. 6 seed in the seven-team NFC playoff field. Before they lost games to the Detroit Lions and Cowboys in a four-day stretch, most playoff prognostications showed the Giants with a playoff chance somewhere in the 75-90 percent range.

Now look:

• NFC Playoff Picture has the Giants with a 56 percent chance of making the playoffs.
• FiveThirtyEight: 47 percent.
• ESPN’s Football Power Index: 59.5 percent.
• Team Rankings: 59.2 percent.

The Giants are now 0-2 in the NFC East with four games (two against the Washington Commanders, two against the Philadelphia Eagles) to come. They are 3-4 in the NFC East.

When the 2022 season started, few people expected the Giants to be in position to make a playoff run with six games remaining. A 6-1 start, though, raised hopes. A 1-3 stretch has perhaps brought a dose of reality about where the Giants actually are as a team.

Still, it would be nice to see the Giants reach the playoffs after improbably putting themselves in position to make that happen.

Can they get it done? Their odds are shrinking.