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Giants (9-7-1) Minnesota (13-4)
Last week the Minnesota Vikings finished the
first half holding a 16-6 lead over the Chicago Bears. That gave them some room
to relax on their way to the playoffs, and they left Chicago with a 29-13 win.
The
Giants were also looking ahead to the playoffs when they took on the Eagles in
Philadelphia. The Eagles were out to secure the No 1 seed, and accomplished that
with a 22-16 win over the Giants. Minnesota
Vikings
The
Minnesota Vikings have never won a Super Bowl.
The Vikings had appeared in four Super Bowls in 1970, 1974, 1975, and 1977, but
lost each time. Their new head coach, Kevin O'Connell has them headed in the right
direction. Kevin O'Connell replaced Mike Zimmer, who held the position from 2014-2021,
guided the team to three playoffs, twice getting in after winning the division,
and the last time in 2019 as a wild card team.
In 2020 the Vikings finished
at 7–9, and it was Zimmer's first losing season. In 2021 their record was 8-9
.
After two losing seasons, the Vikings moved on from their long time head
coach. The last time the Vikings won the NFC North Division title was 2017, and
they have achieved that goal with O'Connell and are on their way to the playoffs
as the No 3 seed. Minnesota
Vikings Offense
Kirk
Cousins led the NFL in both game winning drives and comebacks with eight. He can
certainly deliver the goods, and showed that the last time he faced off with the
Giants, completing over 70 percent of his passes for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Cousins has taken 46 sacks, the most sacks of his career this season, and he was
sacked 7 times in two of his last 8 games. The weakness on this offense is not
the quarterback or the receivers or running backs. The offensive line played better
than they had last year, but have had a tough go of it in recent weeks, especially
at the center and right tackle spots.
Starting center Garrett Bradbury was
unavailable for the last five games of the season, dealing with a back injury.
It looks like he will be playing on Sunday. Right tackle Brian O'Neill suffered
a partially torn Achilles in the Vikings next to last game, and backup center
Austin Schlottmann suffered a broken leg. Last time the teams met up the Giants
blitzed over 50 percent of the time from all directions, and that will likely
be the same plan. Bradbury will have to shake off the rust, and Oli Udoh, who
started 16 games last season, has stepped in for O'Neill.
Minnesota Vikings
Defense
This
defense ranks next to last in the NFL in passing yards and total yards given up
per game. Those are slightly worse numbers than last year, but they have moved
up a bit with their rushing defense since that time. They are one of the better
teams at keeping opponents from getting to the red zone, but rank 21st at keeping
them from scoring touchdowns. They are a good third down defense, and demonstrated
that the last time they played the Giants.
In that game they also caused two
turnovers and sacked Daniel Jones 3 times, as the Giants had to deal with edge
rushers Za'Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter, who also forced a fumble that the
Giants recovered.
Right tackle Evan Neal did not play his best, and even
left tackle Andrew Thomas had troubles. Saquon
Barkley had just 14 carries, and Jones did get the ball to him in the air, but
you would expect to see the Giants put more focus on the running game, at least
at the start to keep the Vikings defense at bay. Giants
Offense
The Vikings defense gives up an
average 28 points a game. If the Giants had only done that last time out against
this team, they would have won that game. The numbers weren't bad, but turnovers
killed them, Daniel Jones threw 42 passes,
and his 30 completions were the most he's had in any one game this season. Jones
averaged 8 yards a completion for a total 334 yards, including 1 touchdown. Unfortunately,
Jones also threw one interception, his first in five games. That was costly, coming
when the Giants were on a first down in field goal range, and he had just completed
five straight passes to get them there.
Saquon Barkley ran for 84 yards on
14 carries, and had 1 touchdown, and he was targeted by Jones more than in any
other game. Barkley caught 8 of his 10 targets for 49 yards, for a 6.1 average
per catch. Richie James had the highest total yards, catching 8 out of 11 for
90 yards, but his drop just past midway in the fourth quarter, killed another
Giants drive.
With their No. 6 playoff spot secured, the Giants had a chance
to rest their key players last week, and that
will certainly help them going into this game. Jones and Barkley have carried
a heavy workload, as well as some offensive linemen who watched from the sidelines,
and backups had a shot at improving their gameplay. Giants
Defense
Last week the
Chicago Bears did not sack Kick Cousins or backup quarterback Nick Mullens, who
replaced him for the second half of that last game. The Vikings coasted to a 29-13
win, and got to ease up on some player snaps. This week they face a defense that
blitzes more than any team in the NFL, and
they recently took a big hit to their already shaky offensive line. The Giants
went after Cousins in their first game and sacked him 4 times, but he was able
to complete passes to wide receiver Justin Jefferson and tight
end T.J. Hockenson when he needed it the most.
Safety Xavier McKinney and cornerback
Adoree' Jackson did not play in that game, and you have to think that Hockenson
wouldn't have ended up with a career high 13 catches for 109 yards and 2 touchdowns,
if they were available to play. The same goes for Jefferson, who caught 12 passes
for 103 yards and 1 touchdown. Despite the upfront pressure, Cousins kept looking
their way, and the two missed on only 7 of Cousins 32 passes that went their way.
Adoree hasn't played in a few weeks dealing with a knee injury, and the Giants
will be hoping he can bring it all. Overall
The players on both teams know that unlike the 17 games they've played so far,
one team will see their season come to an end. The winner will be moving on to
a Divisional Playoff game, and the loser will be watching the team that just beat
them, maybe advance from there. The Giants and Vikings played each other three
weeks ago, and the game came down to the wire. It was no surprise, as the Vikings
have won an NFL record 11 one-score games, and the Giants have had 8 and 1 tie.
In
an interesting twist, these playoff teams both have scored less points than they've
given up, the Vikings by 3, and the Giants by 6. Maybe another close game is at
hand. On that note, the Giants are on an upswing as far as health issues go, and
the Vikings have been heading in the opposite direction. That could be the difference
in this game. NFC East Playoff
Games
Sunday at 4:30pm Giants (9-7-1) at
Vikings (13-4)
Monday at 8:15pm Cowboys (12-5) at Buccaneers (8-9)
The
Cowboys are the only NFC East team favored to win in these games. 
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