A few weeks after a memorable finish on Christmas Eve, the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants will tussle once more in the Wild Card Round at US Bank Stadium on Sunday.
The Vikings ended the regular season by beating the Chicago Bears 29-13, while New York rested most of their starters in a 22-16 defeat against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Match preview
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In a regular season filled with dramatic comebacks and late finishes, no team perfected that better than the Minnesota Vikings.
Kevin O'Connell's team captured the NFC North for the first time since 2017, thanks partly due to a stellar passing attack which averaged 263.8 yards per contest, the sixth-highest total in the league.
Their ground game was rarely utilized during the regular season, ranked 27th in the league, but they managed to contain opposing rushing attacks well, conceding an average of four yards per carry to running backs.
While they ranked near the middle of the pack for sacks in 2022-23, Minnesota managed to get some solid pressure against the Giants in Week 16 with three sacks and 11 quarterback hits.
The Vikings won eight of their nine contests played at US Bank Stadium this season, with seven victories coming by a single score.
The offensive line will face a formidable group of pass rushers, and protecting their quarterback has been a trouble spot for the Vikings throughout the campaign, allowing three or more sacks on eight occasions while only going sack free once.
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After a six-year hiatus and numerous rough campaigns throughout that stretch, the Giants are back in the playoffs.
They got the ground game working again throughout the Christmas holidays and into the New Year, with over 100 yards rushing in their last six contests.
Defensively, they seem to live and die with the pass rush, posting the second-highest blitz percentage in the league (44.7%), with three or more sacks in five of its previous six games.
Heading into this Wild Card encounter, the Giants have lost five of their last six games away from home, including a narrow one in Minneapolis on Christmas Eve.
Their running game has had to carry Brian Daboll's crew throughout the campaign because the Giants ended the regular season near the bottom for passing yards, averaging 185.7 in 2022-23.
The Giants have not won a playoff game away from home in over a decade, with their last one coming at Candlestick Park when they captured the NFC Championship thanks to a 20-17 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers in 2011-12, eventually winning the Super Bowl on that occasion.
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Team News
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Kirk Cousins finished the season with 29 touchdown passes, plus 14 interceptions for a 92.5 rating, with his favourite target being Justin Jefferson, who led the league in receiving yards (1,809), TJ Hockenson made 86 receptions in 2022-23 for 914 yards and Dalvin Cook had a 4.4-yard average per carry.
Patrick Peterson and Duke Shelley each had an interception in their regular-season finale, while Patrick Jones and Kris Boyd led the way with three tackles each, with Jones also registering a sack.
Harrison Smith and Brian Asamoah were limited at practice this week because of sore knees, Garrett Bradbury has been plagued with recurring back problems and Cameron Dantzler could miss this encounter because of an ankle injury.
Saquon Barkley finished the regular season with the fourth-most rushing yards (1,312), while only five running backs generated more first downs than him, Giants pivot Daniel Jones helped him out running for 708 yards this season but did not throw a pick in his last start when they defeated the Indianapolis Colts 38-10 on New Year's Day.
Fabian Moreau allowed a whopping 142 rating to Viking receivers in Week 16, Kayvon Thibodeaux had four sacks and 33 solo tackles in his rookie campaign, Nick McCloud registered 1.5 in their loss to the Eagles and Rodarius Williams made 10 tackles.
Leonard Williams is dealing with a neck strain, Jason Pinnock has a sore shoulder, Azeez Ojulari remains a question mark because of a tender ankle and Jon Feliciano could be a game-time decision due to a back injury.
Head To Head
Minnesota beat New York for the fourth consecutive time in December thanks to a 61-yard field goal by Greg Joseph as time expired in the fourth quarter.
That gave the Vikings an 18-12 advantage overall against the Giants, though the last playoff matchup between the two was all G-men.
On that occasion, Ike Hilliard caught two touchdown passes from Kerry Collins, and Brad Delusio kicked a pair of field goals, helping them to a 41-0 triumph in the 2000 season as they advanced to the Super Bowl.
Three field goals from Eddie Murray gave the Vikings a narrow 23-22 victory in East Rutherford in the previous playoff encounter against New York, with Randall Cunningham finding Jake Reed for a fourth-quarter score and Leroy Hoard running in a touchdown in quarter number three.
We say: Minnesota Vikings 27-24 New York Giants
New York's defensive line could be a handful for the Vikings to handle, though Cousins had a 122 rating and two touchdown passes despite being blitzed 21 times by the Giants in Week 16.
There is something magical about Minnesota at home, and we believe they will find a way to win this one, just like they have numerous times in 2022-23.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
