Giants news, 12/19: Playoff chances, Daniel Jones, Kayvon Thibodeaux, more headlines

Good morning, New York Giants fans!

Giants-Commanders final score: Giants get critical victory, 20-12
The New York Giants moved a step closer to their first playoff berth since 2016 with a critical 20-12 victory over the Washington Commanders on Sunday night. With the victory, the Giants (8-5-1)now have an 87 percent chance of reaching the playoffs, per FiveThirtyEight.

The Giants got a goal line stand in the final minute to secure the victory. After a Brian Robinson 1-yard touchdown run was negated by an illegal formation penalty on Washington, two incompletions from the Giants’ 6-yard line sealed the victory.

From Big Blue View

• Big Blue View mailbag: Running game, playoff money, Landon Collins, more questions
• Giants activate Ben Bredeson, elevate Landon Collins, Davis Webb
• Giants-Commanders inactives: Leonard Williams will play, Chase Young will not

Other Giant observations

Phil Simms: Daniel Jones will 'absolutely' be Giants' QB next year | New York Post

Phil Simms has already made up his mind. Midway through the Giants’ “Sunday Night Football” matchup with the Commanders, the team’s legendary quarterback gave Daniel Jones his official seal of approval.

“I’ve seen enough this year & Daniel Jones has exceeded expectations – [in my opinion] he will absolutely be the Giants QB next year,” Simms tweeted.

Yes, Kayvon Thibodeaux was ready for prime time

Darius Slayton’s ultimate goal is to make Giants (or somebody) pay - NJ.com

The Giants’ flight home soared through the darkness above the Atlantic Ocean, and Darius Slayton, fresh off an impressive game in London, browsed the movie selections, trying to pass the time. He let his mind wander, thinking about the weeks ahead, in a season that once seemed lost but was suddenly full of possibilities.

Giants' Xavier McKinney on return: 'It’s a matter of time' | New York Post

Is there any chance you’ll be back for Saturday’s Vikings game?

“There’s a chance,” McKinney said . “I gotta get a CT scan next week, so we’ll see. If you were to talk to the docs, the day before, and the day after I got my surgery, I was calling them like, ‘Hey, put me on the field as soon as this is over.’ I wanted to cast it up even with the pins in there. If it was up to me, I woulda been back on the field.”

CB Darnay Holmes breaks up the pass in the end zone to clinch the victory

Q&A: Tom Coughlin on the 2022 Giants, Eli Manning’s Hall of Fame case and more | The Athletic

I heard you addressed the team last week. What was your message?

The overall message is tradition and just thinking through hard times and good times and sharing them and letting the players know that in New York, if you order a vanilla milkshake, 50 percent of the people are criticizing and the other 50 percent might think it’s a good idea. You’ve got to fight your way through some things. You can’t let that get you down. And recognizing the great Giant franchise, the red, white and the blue, and being in a tremendous division — it’s right back to where it seemingly was always with all teams competing for a spot in the playoffs. So there’s a lot to put your arms around as a Giant now.

This week’s opponent

NFL Week 15 Saturday grades: Vikings earn ‘B+’ for epic comeback; | CBSSports.com

When you fall down 33-0 for the largest home halftime deficit in franchise history, an ‘A’ becomes unattainable. However, the Vikings came as close as they could to earning that ‘A’ thanks to the largest comeback in NFL history — 33 points as they outscored the Colts 39-3 after the break. Kirk Cousins overcoming his two interceptions — including a pick-six — to throw for a career-high 460 yards and four scores is the definition of resilience. Hats off to the 2022 NFC North division champions, the Minnesota Vikings.

Most Ridiculous Moments From the Minnesota Vikings’ Historic Comeback | The Ringer

Minnesota came back from a 33-0 deficit to beat the Colts and win the NFC North. How on earth did it happen? And what does it mean for Indianapolis’s Jeff Saturday experiment?

Super Bowl LVII is in 57 days; 1 big question for 15 NFL contenders | FOX Sports

7. Minnesota Vikings

Can their defense stop anyone through the air? The NFL's worst defense (overall and passing) has given up an average of 335.6 passing yards over the last five games. It's no wonder they're the first 10-3 team ever to be outscored by their opponents. They did beat the Bills in an overtime shootout, but losing to the Eagles and Cowboys by a combined score of 64-10 is a warning that their pass defense could be a major problem, even in the NFC.

Around the league

Cowboys clinch second straight playoff trip thanks to Giants win | NFL.com

Despite a 40-34 overtime loss to the the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Dallas clinched a playoff berth thanks to the Seattle Seahawks' loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday and the Washington Commanders defeat against the New York Giants on Sunday night.

Patriots players say laterals were improvised, 'have to be smarter' | ESPN.com

Jakobi Meyers and Rhamondre Stevenson said their laterals at the end of Sunday's game were not something the coaches told them to do.

"Just trying to do too much, Trying to be a hero, I guess," Meyers said. "I thought I saw Mac open. I didn't see Chandler Jones at the time. I thought [Mac] was open and tried to get it to him, and let him try to make a play with it. But the score was tied, so I should have went down."

Cardinals expected to move on from GM Steve Keim | CBSSports.com

According to league sources, team owner Michael Bidwill was particularly active talking one on one with participants of last week’s accelerator program, where 32 minority candidates across 28 clubs joined the league meetings in Texas to learn, shadow and network with NFL decision-makers.

Bears' Justin Fields becomes third QB in NFL history with 1,000-yard rushing season | NFL.com

Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields made NFL history by surpassing 1,000 rush yards in a season.

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