Game vs. Washington in two weeks will be critical to playoff outcome
The New York Giants’ 20-20 tie with the Washington Commanders on Sunday leaves them with the No. 6 seed in the seven-team field with five games remaining.
The Giants are 7-4-1. With a last-minute 27-23 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, the Seattle Seahawks improved to 7-5 and moved into the seventh seed. The 7-5-1 Commanders are now eighth in the NFC, one spot out of the playoff picture.
Realistically, it looks like those three teams will battle for two wild-card spots over the season’s final five weeks. The Detroit Lions are 5-7 and have an opportunity, but would likely have to win all five of their remaining games.
The Giants face the 11-1 Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday, while the Commanders have a bye. The Giants and Commander meet again in two weeks in Landover, Md. The winner of that game — unless it should again end in a tie — could end up with a leg up on a playoff spot.
Per Tankathon, the Giants have the second-hardest remaining schedule of any team in the league. They play the Eagles twice, the Commanders, the 10-2 Minnesota Vikings and the 4-7-1 Indianapolis Colts. The combined winning percentage of those teams is .721.
The Commanders’ five games (Giants, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns) have a combined .606 winning percentage, the league’s third-most difficult.
Seattle faces the Kansas City Chiefs, 49ers, New York Jets, Rams and Carolina Panthers. The combined winning percentage of those teams is .525, making the Seahawks’ schedule the 13th in terms of difficulty the rest of the way.