NFC playoff picture: Giants remain at No. 6 heading into final stretch

The New York Giants enter the home stretch of the 2022-23 NFL season with a tenuous hold on a playoff berth. The 7-4 Giants are currently the No. 6 seed in the NFC. This week’s opponent, the 7-5 Washington Commanders, is the No. 7 seed.

All four NFC East teams, in fact, would be in the playoffs if they began this week. The 10-1 Philadelphia Eagles are the No. 1 seed. The Dallas Cowboys, who defeated the Giants on Thanksgiving Day, are the No. 5 seed with an 8-4 record.

“The whole season obviously is in front of you right now,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said after the loss to Dallas. “We have a long way to go. Obviously, the rest of December here and the early part of January. So, we have to focus on getting ready to play Washington, but you’re sitting at 7-4. You put yourself in a position to play meaningful games in December, which is important. Last year (in Buffalo), I think we were 7-6 after 13 games.

“Look, anything can happen in this league. I’ve said it before, it’s a humbling league. You can be on the top of the mountain one week and fall off the next week.”

The Giants have the NFL’s toughest remaining schedule by opponent winning percentage. They face the Commanders and Eagles twice, the Minnesota Vikings and Indianapolis Colts and those teams combined for a .699 winning percentage.

The team that might be most likely to take a playoff berth away from the Giants is the 6-5 Seattle Seahawks, currently the eighth-seed in the NFC at 6-5. The Seahawks already own a victory over the Giants this season. Seattle’s remaining opponents — the Los Angeles Rams twice, Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets and Carolina Panthers — have a combined .499 winning percentage.

Here are how various sites see the Giants’ playoff chances:

• PlayoffStatus.com: 57 percent
• FiveThirtyEight: 49 percent
• Team Rankings: 63.4 percent
• ESPN’s Football Power Index: 60.2 percent

Here is the current NFC playoff picture:

NFC playoff picture

1. Philadelphia Eagles, 10-1
2. Minnesota Vikings, 9-2
3. San Francisco 49ers, 7-4
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 5-6
5. Dallas Cowboys, 8-3
6. New York Giants, 7-4
7. Washington Commanders, 7-5
8. Seattle Seahawks, 6-5
9. Atlanta Falcons 5-7
10. Detroit Lions, 4-7
11. Green Bay Packers, 4-8
12. New Orleans Saints, 4-8
13. Arizona Cardinals, 4-8
14. Carolina Panthers, 4-8
15. Los Angeles Rams, 3-8
16. Chicago Bears, 3-9