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Giants lock down playoff berth with 38-10 win

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Mike Florio and Chris Simms rip through keys to Week 17, including Mike White squaring up against Geno Smith, if the Packers defense can manage Justin Jefferson, how Carson Wentz will look and more.

The Giants are headed to the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season.

Daniel Jones ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more in a 38-10 rout of the Colts that clinched a postseason berth in Brian Daboll’s first year as the team’s head coach. Few people predicted that the Giants would have a winning record coming into this season, but they opened the year 6-1 and successfully navigated some midseason stumbles in order to make it back into the tournament.

Jones’ play has been a big reason for that success all season and Sunday was no exception. He was 19-of-24 for 177 yards through the air and he ran 11 times for 91 yards to pace the offense once again.

The Giants also got an interception return for a touchdown by Landon Collins during the win and rookie edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux knocked Colts quarterback Nick Foles out of the game on a sack. Thibodeaux celebrating next to Foles when Foles was obviously injured was a bad look for the first-round pick, but the Giants will try to find a way to deal with that while keeping him productive as a pass rusher.

The Giants will close out the regular season against the Eagles, but they are likely not going to have anything to play for in terms of playoff position. They can’t catch the Cowboys for the No. 5 seed and the Commanders are on their way to a loss this weekend. If that score holds, the Giants can’t get passed by any of the remaining Wild Card hopefuls in the NFC. Daboll’s plans for resting starters in a game that the Eagles are likely to need to sew up the NFC East and the No. 1 seed in the conference will be a topic of much conversation this week.

A past Giants team faced the same decision and then-coach Tom Coughlin opted to play starters in the final week of the 2007 season against the 15-0 Patriots. New England won that week, but the Giants wound up winning the Super Bowl. That memory and the chance to play spoiler for a hated division rival could mean Jones and company still see the field.

Indianapolis will close out their disappointing season with a home game against the Texans that will only matter for draft positioning.