It’s good news in Detroit and Green Bay, and bad news in Washington: The Giants say they’re playing to win on Sunday.
The Giants are locked into the No. 5 seed in the NFC and have nothing to play for on Sunday afternoon against Washington, but it’s a big game in the NFC playoff race because Washington will get into the playoffs with a win (as long as the Lions and Packers don’t tie). Meanwhile, the Sunday night game between the Lions and Packers is for the NFC North title, but if Washington loses then the Packers-Lions loser will also make the playoffs as a wild card.
So will the Giants play to win on Sunday? According to running back Rashad Jennings, that’s the plan.
“Yes. Everyone is going to play Sunday,” Jennings said, via ESPN.
Giants left guard Justin Pugh added that all the game planning the Giants did on Tuesday was for Washington, with no discussions of preparing for a potential first-round playoff opponent.
So it appears that Giants coach Ben McAdoo thinks the risk of his players getting rusty if they take their feet off the gas pedal is greater than the risk of his players getting injured if they play. That means the Giants will try to win on Sunday. If they do, both the Lions and the Packers will have clinched the playoffs before kickoff of their Sunday night game, and will be playing only for the right to start the playoffs at home, instead of on the road.
