The Giants Use Their Strength To Advance

The New York Giants used the Detroit Lions' setback to the Carolina Panthers and the Seattle Seahawks' loss to the Kansas City Chiefs to keep their playoff hopes alive despite a 24-27 road loss in Minnesota.

The Giants played at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, starting at 12:02 p.m. on December 24, attracting 66,919 fans who braked minus 16.1 degrees Celsius for a 100 percent capacity crowd. The Vikings held the ball for 30 minutes and 47 seconds and won for the 12th time in the regular season, giving them 12 wins in a season since 2009.

The Giants, who are 8-6-1 at home in New Jersey, are scheduled to play the 4-9-1 Indianapolis Colts at home on Jan. 1, 2023, to determine whether they will qualify for the playoffs.

The Vikings won their second straight game of the regular season by three points over the New York Giants with 270 yards rushing and 83 yards rushing.

The Vikings' 34-year-old starting quarterback is solid Kirk Daniel Cousins, a 6-foot-3 Illinois native who played in 45 games at Michigan State. He was drafted 102nd overall in the fourth round by the Washington Redskins in the 2012 Major League draft and has made 77 starts in four years as the Vikings' franchise quarterback, compiling a 44-32-1 record.

He has made 14 starts this season, attempted at least 23 passes in each game, and made at least 12 catches for at least 105 yards per game. They also have at least one sack per game, a maximum of six carries per game, and a minimum of seven cumulative yards per game.

Katjens completed 70.83 percent of his passes in this game, throwing three touchdowns and 34 of 48 to seven teammates for 299 yards, going 25 yards without an interception but getting tackled four times for 29 yards. In addition, he covered two teammates for 81 yards on 18 rushes and had a 2-yard rush of his own.

Since Dec. 6, 1964, the Vikings and Giants have faced each other 30 times in regular and postseason games (three times in the playoffs), with 18 wins and 12 losses and 690 points to the Giants' 573. The last time the two teams fought was on Oct. 6, 2019, in New Jersey, where the home team lost 28-10.

The Giants' starting quarterback, 25-year-old Daniel Stephen Jones III, looks good statistically, but the timing of the turnovers is unfortunate. He completed 71.43 percent of his passes in this game, with one assist and one touchdown. He completed 30 of 42 passes to five teammates for 334 yards, a maximum of 33 yards, one interception and three sacks for a loss of 15 yards. He also covered three teammates 17 times for 92 yards and a touchdown, and had four rushes for 34 yards.