Giants make first postseason appearance in six years vs. Vikings Sunday on TSN
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The New York Giants make their first playoff appearance in six years as they take on Justin Jefferson and the high-flying Minnesota Vikings offence in their NFC Wild Card matchup on Sunday.
Watch the Giants take on the Vikings LIVE on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET on TSN4/5, the TSN App, and TSN.ca.
The Giants (9-7-1) made the playoffs after five-consecutive losing seasons in their first season under head coach Brian Daboll. The rookie head coach, who has playoff experience as an assistant with the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills, says the lack of postseason experience on his roster won’t matter come Saturday.
“We believe in what we do. We believe in how we do it, and then we have to go out there and execute and call a good game and make good decisions,” he said. “I really don’t think about it at all to be honest with you. I just think you make more out of it than it really is. Experience, not experience — the most important thing is playing and coaching well.”
The NFC North champion Vikings (13-4) will host their first playoff game since the “Minneapolis Miracle” five years ago. It will be Minnesota’s first postseason appearance since drafting Jefferson 22nd overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. The LSU product, who led the league with 128 catches and 1,809 receiving yards, is looking forward to his first NFL playoff game.
“I enjoy those big-platform games, and of course I want to get to that Super Bowl,” Jefferson said. “So whoever’s standing in the way, we’ve got to knock them down.”
Both teams enter the Wild Card round with plenty of experience in tight games. The Vikings won an NFL-record 11 one-score games this season, finishing 11-0 in total, while the Giants played in more one-score games (13) and won eight of them, second-most in the NFL.
Both the Giants and Vikings finished the 2022 season with a negative point differential. It is just the fourth playoff matchup in NFL history between two teams with negative point differentials.
The teams played each other in Week 16, with the Vikings winning on a 61-yard field goal as time expired. Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell says the team will look to improve on it’s preparation from their first matchup three weeks ago.
“I think it’s important that we look at our scheme in all three phases, what we’ve done and trying to identify where we’re vulnerable, but then also the things we’ve done well,” O'Connell said. “Can we take things to another level and can we do some new things and use different personnel?"
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins looks to improve on his 1-3 playoff record but will be under pressure against a Giants defence that leads the NFL in blitz percentage (42%) this season.
It will also be the first playoff game for Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who was selected sixth overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.