david dieHl - New York Giants

Giants’ last-chance scenario to reach the postseason
By Jenny Vrentas
The Star-Ledger
Dec. 24, 2012
BALTIMORE -- The Giants have delivered a pair of duds the past two weeks, losing to the Falcons
and the Ravens on the road by a combined 67-14 margin. As a result, they've fallen to 8-7, now
eliminated from the NFC East race and needing a lot of help to reach the postseason as a Wild
Card.
The Giants' chance at a playoffs bid now depends on a win against the Eagles (at home), a
Cowboys loss or tie to the Redskins (at Washington), a Vikings loss to the Packers (at Minnesota)
and a Bears loss to the Lions (at Detroit). All of those things have to happen for the Giants to be
in, which means the Giants have gone from controlling their own destiny to needing a lot of
help.
The good news for the Giants, if they can pull off a win next week, is that both the Packers and
Redskins will be motivated. The Redskins (9-6) can sew up the NFC East title by beating Dallas (8-
7), and the Packers (11-4) would earn the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye with a win against the
Vikings (9-6).
The Vikings play at 4:25 p.m, and Washington-Dallas meet on Sunday Night Football. The Giants
and the Bears (9-6) both play at 1 p.m.
How were the Giants were eliminated from the NFC East race yesterday? If the Redskins beat
the Cowboys, the Redskins finish alone at 10-6. If they tie, the Redskins' record is also the best in
the division at 9-6-1. If the Cowboys and the Giants win and there is a three-way tie at 9-7, the
Giants are eliminated on the division record tiebreaker (they would only have three division
wins, compared to the Redskins and Cowboys' four), and on the next tiebreaker, the Cowboys
have a better record in common games than the Redskins.
In the Wild-Card race, the reason the Giants need the Cowboys to lose or tie is so that another
NFC East team with the same record is not in the Wild-Card mix. If the Cowboys won, the
Redskins would be dropped into the Wild-Card hunt (unless there are two 10-win NFC teams
ahead of them). Ties would be broken within the division first, and the Giants lose that because
of their division record.
In the scenario for the Giants to make it, either San Francisco (10-4-1) or Seattle (10-5) -- the
loser of the NFC West race -- will earn the first Wild-Card bid and the No. 5 seed. The Vikings,
Bears and Giants would all be 9-7, and the Giants would sneak in by virtue of their 8-4
conference record, better than the Vikings and Bears' 7-5 in the NFC.
If either the Vikings or the Bears win, though, there will be at least two Wild-Card contenders
with at least 10 wins (along with either Seattle or San Francisco), so the Giants would be out.
Make sense? This is what the Giants get by giving away control of their own destiny.