The New York Giants (8-6-1) host the Indianapolis Colts (4-10-1) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey at 1:00 p.m. ET on New Year’s Day.
Here are five storylines to follow in Week 17.
Playoffs on the line
A victory would put the Giants in the postseason for the first time since 2016. In head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen’s first season on the job, this would the Giants’ rebuilding/recovery plan ahead of schedule.
The Giants could also back into the postseason this week even with a loss and a combination of losses and/or ties by Washington, Detroit, Green Bay, and Seattle.
A rare matchup
It was 64 years ago this week that the Giants and Colts faced off in the “Greatest Game Ever Played” — the 1958 NFL Championship at Yankee Stadium.
The Colts won, 23-17, but the game is widely known as the advent of the NFL as a national television event. The game featured 17 future Hall of Famers and put the NFL on the country’s ‘must-watch’ list from then on in.
The two teams met in the 1959 NFL Championship, with the Colts winning again, 31-16, but would only meet five more times in the 30 years.
The Giants hold a 10-6 edge in the 16 regular season meetings but have lost the past four.
Teams heading in different directions
While the Giants are on the doorstep of the playoffs, the Colts are nose-diving. They began the season 3-2-1 and were high on many experts’ lists to win the AFC South.
But since then, the Colts have lost eight of their last nine games, fired head coach Frank Reich and replaced him with the uncredited Jeff Saturday, abandoned the Matt Ryan experiment at quarterback, and basically played without their star running back Jonathan Taylor for most of the season.
Hence their 4-10-1 record.
The Giants are favored to win
This will be just the fourth game this season that the Giants are favored to win and the 5.5-point spread is the largest they’ve been favored by in a game in the last two seasons.
The Giants are 11-4 against the spread overall this year and 1-2 as a favorite.
Indianapolis is 6-9 ATS this season. Over their last nine games, they’ve averaged 16 points per game on offense while allowing 26 points per game on defense.
Giants are coming off their best offensive game
The Giants amassed a season-high 445 yards of offense last week. Granted it came against a very porous Minnesota defense but the Giants did take advantage.
Quarterback Daniel Jones completed 30 of 42 attempts for 334 yards and a touchdown. Running back Saquon Barkley had a season-high eight receptions and a total of 133 scrimmage yards (84 rushing, 49 receiving) to go along with his 10th rushing touchdown of the season.
Wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins had career highs in catches (eight) and receiving yards (89), and had his third touchdown of the year.
