Who will the Giants play in the playoffs? Potential opponents for New York

The New York Giants netted a 38-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts that guaranteed them a playoff berth, their first franchise appearance in the postseason since 2016.

Brian Daboll's team has a 9-6-1 record and they're officially locked as the sixth seed in the playoffs. They can't win the NFC East anymore, they can't surpass the Dallas Cowboys for the fifth seed, and no other playoff contender can surpass them for the sixth seed.

This officially guarantees that the Giants will start their playoff run against the third seed in the conference in an away game. It'll be during the Wild Card Round.

Let's analyze the current NFC playoff picture to discover who the Giants' possible playoff opponents are.

Interested in betting? The Bills and the Bengals play on Monday Night Football.

---

Giants playoff opponents: Who can New York play?

After locking up the sixth seed, New York has four possible playoff opponents for their first game, although the likelihood between them is very different.

The most probable opponent would be the Minnesota Vikings. For that to happen, the Vikings would have to lose to the Packers and beat the Bears, the 49ers would win both their games and the Eagles would win their final game of the season, thus locking Minnesota #3 with a 13-4 record.

The possibility of playing the San Francisco 49ers is also considerable. For that to happen, the 49ers would have to lose at least one game to the Las Vegas Raiders or the Arizona Cardinals in the upcoming weeks. Although that is the current situation, San Francisco is a heavy favorite in their final two games, while Minnesota is the underdog against the Green Bay Packers.

The other two possibilities are the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys, but these are highly unlikely to happen. The Eagles will play at home to the Giants next Sunday - and, presumably, New York will rest its starters as they can't change their playoff picture. If it does indeed happen, Philadelphia will lock up the first seed and they won't be a possible opponent.

---

What will New York do in Week 18?

They will presumably rest their starters against the Philadelphia Eagles. They can't change their playoff seed anymore and there's no point risking their starters in a meaningless game.

While this will make it easier for the Eagles to grab the first seed, the bye week and the home-field advantage, there's no real advantage for the Giants to win this game.