need to keep our eyes on 3 other games. As stated previously, the Giants need 3 things to happen to go along with beating the Eagles. They are:
1. Bears must lose
2. Vikings must lose
3. Cowboys must lose
Chronologically the games will occur in this order:
1pm: I. Eagles @ Giants
II. Bears @ Detroit
The is the only game of the three in which the Giants need help, where scoreboard watching will take place DURING the game.
The Lions have no motivation to win this game, other than the it being a home game against a divisional rival. This will have to be enough. From my viewpoint, this looks like the least likely of the 3 losses to occur, bit it's not far fetched to see the Lions wanting to play the spoiler role against their divisional rival.
If neither the Lions nor the Giants win, then it's tee-time. However, if they do win, then there will be two more games to keep our eyes on, wit the next one occurring at 4:25 pm, as is detailed below.
4:25 pm: III. Packers @ Vikings
If things break right for the Giants and their fans, then they'll be able to sit back and watch this game between Green Bay and the Minnesota, in Minnesota. The Packers have the #2 seed in the NFC playoffs to play for. IF they win, they get a bye, and a home game against SF if they play them again, which looks likely, in the divisional round. That's motivation enough for Mike McCarthy to have his team ready to play.
If the Packers bring their "A" game, then they should win. Problem is that their defense is average to below-average, to say the least. If they can contain Peterson, then they win, it's as simple as that. Christian Ponder is a pedestrian QB who the Vikings try not to let win games for them because he's not very good. Hopefully that remains the case starting at 4:25 pm next Sunday.
Should the Packers come through for the Giants, and beat Minnesota, then there will be one more game to watch--the last one of the entire 2012 regular season...
8:20 pm (Sunday Night Football on NBC--last game of the regular season): I. Cowboys @ Redskins
This game is for the division. Whichever team wins are the NFC champs, as sickening as that is to hear for Giants fans. It is reality though, so deal with it. If the Redskin win, they'd be 10-6, and would win it based on record. If the Cowboys win, both teams would be 9-7, but they would win based on the third tie-breaker. Here is how they'll do it:
Quote:
The first tiebreaker is head-to-head, and the Cowboys lost to the Redskins 38-31 on Thanksgiving Day at Cowboys Stadium. The second tiebreaker to decide a division title is division record. The Cowboys would tie the Redskins with a 4-2 division record, with a victory over Washington next week. The third tiebreaker is common opponents and the Cowboys are 5-3 and the Redskins are 4-4 against common opponents outside the division.
([url]Read more here: http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/cowboys/2012/12/cowboys-playoff-chances-are-simple-they-are-nfc-east-champs-with-a-win.html#storylink=cpy)[/url]
[If the Cowboys lose, then they're eliminated. For the Redskins, it's a little different, as detailed below:
Quote:
This year, should the Cowboys lose, they will be eliminated from playoff contention. The Redskins could still make the playoffs as a wild-card team if they lose the game, but they would need the Vikings and the Bears to lose. So, if Minnesota and Chicago both lose Sunday afternoon, the Redskins will clinch a playoff spot before they even kick off against the Cowboys, and would be playing only for the division title and a first-round home game.
The Redskins' interests happen to coincide with those of the Giants, since they need to the Bears to lose (1 pm start), and the Vikings to lose (4:25 pm start) to clinch a playoff spot. A home game to them will still mean a lot, so they'll still be pumped for this game considering the circumstances. Hopefully it will all come down to this game, and the Giants will be in the playoffs by the conclusion of this game, sometime between 11:30 & 11:45 pm next Sunday.
The earliest that the Giants will know if they've made the playoffs will be late Sunday night, so it'll be a long day if you're planning on watching the games that the Giants need help in--assuming of course that they beat the Eagles, which is no given considering how poorly the Giants have played.
On the negative side, the Giants can spare their fans a lot of consternation if they win and the Bears lose, thereby eliminating the Giants from the playoffs by about 4:15 pm or so. They can also obviously eliminate themselves if they lose to the Eagles at home in Andy Reid's swan song as Eagles' Head Coach, which would be fitting considering how much they've tortured the Giants over the years.
If the giants have ANY pride left, they'll AT LEAST beat Philly, and send them home without the satisfaction that they ended the Giants' playoffs hopes this season (although many will argue that the Giants have done a good enough job of that by themselves).
To sum up, we need to be Lions, Packers, and Redskins fans for a day (...and then take a shower afterwards) in order for the Giants to get into the playoffs.
If the Lions take care of the Bears at 1 pm, then the biggest hurdle may have been cleared. To earn a wild-card spot, they Bears to win at Detroit in their regular-season finale and have the Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings (source: http://www.chron.com/sports/article/Bears-need-help-from-Packers-after-beating-Arizona-4142994.php). If the Lions somehow muster up enough pride to get the job done for the Giants, then things have a decent chance at unfolding favorably for the Giants.
It's been an up and down year, but once you're in you never know. Granted this team doesn't look like a playoff contender now, but I'd rather take my chances wit this team in "the tournament", as Bill Parcells used to call the NFL Playoffs, than out of the tournament. The Giants somehow made it in at 8-8 in 2006, and at 9-7 last year. Hopefully they'll win, and get the help that they need to get in. That's all that's left to root for in this strange season.
The last time that the Giants and Jets played at the same time was...
The Giants and Jets each played at 1 pm on Sunday, September 27th of that year due to a Jewish holiday taking place (Yom Kippur). See the article below for more information. The time previous to that, in which the same scenario occurred was back in 1984.
At least the 2 toughest games for us will be over by 4. If they don't go our way, I won't have to waste my time watching the others. But man, if we get to 4:30 still alive, it's gonna be crazy.
I was sure one of the ny teams would be moved off 1PM. (Glad to be wrong though since I like 1PM games.). At any rate, I'm not sure why anyone would simply want the season to end. I'd rather lose in the playoffs than either not have the opportunity. I'd think any fan would.
a good number of people here saying they didn't even care or want to see the team in the playoffs after the second redskins game and I thought they were nuts, or at least a little silly in having that view. But after these two horror shows and even Coughlin himself saying he's not concerned with or thinking about the postseason as we head into week 17, I can't say I am either. This trainwreck needs to come to an end, the sooner the better. We don't have what it takes to make a run thIs year and I'm normally one of those eternal optimists that thinks this team can come back from anything. I justcan't see it this time.
The Packers hopefully learned from last year and will give a good effort to remain sharp. Of course, they'd be delighted if we were elminated..Anything can happen with Skins/Cowboys. Unlike many here, I don't think the Skins are a lock at all
If being a fan of a team brings such misery and embarrassment
Mad Mike : 8:23 am
that you'd rather see them go away then have a chance to compete, you're probably doing it wrong.
The only time I wouldn't agree with this is when losing in the short-term would benefit the team in the long-term (e.g., a la the Colts last year, or when a Coach who doesn't want to leave has to based on his team's poor performance).
BB'56 - For what it's worth, I agree w/you about that Redskins-Cowboys
game. It's anybody's ball game. The Cowboys will want revenge on them for beating them in Dallas back on Thanksgiving to go along with the most obvious one: win, and they're Division champs. Dallas can definitely win that game if they bring their "A" game.
it's almost uncanny how Romo has nearly duplicated our 4th qtr comebacks of last year..He's really a good QB. Flawed, but if we didn't have Eli, he could be my QB any time
my expectation for this year was and is to just make the playoffs...it's damn tough to repeat - a team needs health and some good bounces of the ball..I was just hoping that the Giants would play well enough to get in the tourney and would be ok with that...the past two weeks have me flashing back to when I was a much younger man and "my team" was a constant embarrassment..back to the days when my dad taught me how to watch the Giants - continual hope, combined with many ways to creatively use profanity...
beating the shegals. Get over it, they are done. Have you not been watching the last two weeks? They just finished getting carved up by Joe Flacco, does anyone think this years version is any good?
1. Bears must lose
2. Vikings must lose
3. Cowboys must lose
Chronologically the games will occur in this order:
1pm:
I. Eagles @ Giants
II. Bears @ Detroit
The is the only game of the three in which the Giants need help, where scoreboard watching will take place DURING the game.
The Lions have no motivation to win this game, other than the it being a home game against a divisional rival. This will have to be enough. From my viewpoint, this looks like the least likely of the 3 losses to occur, bit it's not far fetched to see the Lions wanting to play the spoiler role against their divisional rival.
If neither the Lions nor the Giants win, then it's tee-time. However, if they do win, then there will be two more games to keep our eyes on, wit the next one occurring at 4:25 pm, as is detailed below.
4:25 pm:
III. Packers @ Vikings
If things break right for the Giants and their fans, then they'll be able to sit back and watch this game between Green Bay and the Minnesota, in Minnesota. The Packers have the #2 seed in the NFC playoffs to play for. IF they win, they get a bye, and a home game against SF if they play them again, which looks likely, in the divisional round. That's motivation enough for Mike McCarthy to have his team ready to play.
For the Vikings, things are real simple: win & they're in (this link says it all: http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/blogs/184634641.html). They will be pumped to win this game, and get Adrian Peterson the all-time rushing yardage record, which still belongs to Eric Dickerson. He has 1,898 yards on the season and trails Dickerson's 1984 record by 207 yards (http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_22251192/vikings-adrian-petersons-record-quest-hits-snag-but).
If the Packers bring their "A" game, then they should win. Problem is that their defense is average to below-average, to say the least. If they can contain Peterson, then they win, it's as simple as that. Christian Ponder is a pedestrian QB who the Vikings try not to let win games for them because he's not very good. Hopefully that remains the case starting at 4:25 pm next Sunday.
Should the Packers come through for the Giants, and beat Minnesota, then there will be one more game to watch--the last one of the entire 2012 regular season...
8:20 pm (Sunday Night Football on NBC--last game of the regular season):
I. Cowboys @ Redskins
This game is for the division. Whichever team wins are the NFC champs, as sickening as that is to hear for Giants fans. It is reality though, so deal with it. If the Redskin win, they'd be 10-6, and would win it based on record. If the Cowboys win, both teams would be 9-7, but they would win based on the third tie-breaker. Here is how they'll do it:
([url]Read more here: http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/cowboys/2012/12/cowboys-playoff-chances-are-simple-they-are-nfc-east-champs-with-a-win.html#storylink=cpy)[/url]
[If the Cowboys lose, then they're eliminated. For the Redskins, it's a little different, as detailed below:
Source:http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast
The Redskins' interests happen to coincide with those of the Giants, since they need to the Bears to lose (1 pm start), and the Vikings to lose (4:25 pm start) to clinch a playoff spot. A home game to them will still mean a lot, so they'll still be pumped for this game considering the circumstances. Hopefully it will all come down to this game, and the Giants will be in the playoffs by the conclusion of this game, sometime between 11:30 & 11:45 pm next Sunday.
The earliest that the Giants will know if they've made the playoffs will be late Sunday night, so it'll be a long day if you're planning on watching the games that the Giants need help in--assuming of course that they beat the Eagles, which is no given considering how poorly the Giants have played.
On the negative side, the Giants can spare their fans a lot of consternation if they win and the Bears lose, thereby eliminating the Giants from the playoffs by about 4:15 pm or so. They can also obviously eliminate themselves if they lose to the Eagles at home in Andy Reid's swan song as Eagles' Head Coach, which would be fitting considering how much they've tortured the Giants over the years.
If the giants have ANY pride left, they'll AT LEAST beat Philly, and send them home without the satisfaction that they ended the Giants' playoffs hopes this season (although many will argue that the Giants have done a good enough job of that by themselves).
To sum up, we need to be Lions, Packers, and Redskins fans for a day (...and then take a shower afterwards) in order for the Giants to get into the playoffs.
If the Lions take care of the Bears at 1 pm, then the biggest hurdle may have been cleared. To earn a wild-card spot, they Bears to win at Detroit in their regular-season finale and have the Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings (source: http://www.chron.com/sports/article/Bears-need-help-from-Packers-after-beating-Arizona-4142994.php). If the Lions somehow muster up enough pride to get the job done for the Giants, then things have a decent chance at unfolding favorably for the Giants.
It's been an up and down year, but once you're in you never know. Granted this team doesn't look like a playoff contender now, but I'd rather take my chances wit this team in "the tournament", as Bill Parcells used to call the NFL Playoffs, than out of the tournament. The Giants somehow made it in at 8-8 in 2006, and at 9-7 last year. Hopefully they'll win, and get the help that they need to get in. That's all that's left to root for in this strange season.
The Giants and Jets each played at 1 pm on Sunday, September 27th of that year due to a Jewish holiday taking place (Yom Kippur). See the article below for more information. The time previous to that, in which the same scenario occurred was back in 1984.
Giants, Jets on at same time on Sunday because of Yom Kippur - ( New Window )
Mad Mike : 8:23 am
that you'd rather see them go away then have a chance to compete, you're probably doing it wrong.
The only time I wouldn't agree with this is when losing in the short-term would benefit the team in the long-term (e.g., a la the Colts last year, or when a Coach who doesn't want to leave has to based on his team's poor performance).
We know the Skins are going to bring it, and Romo is due for his annual choke job.
Jay Cutler has the capacity to implode or suffer a bizarre injury. Divisional game. Lions are a boom-bust team.
Making the playoffs is not impossible for NYG.