New York Giants 31-24 Minnesota Vikings, Giants advance to Divisional Round, summary: score, stats, highlights | NFL Playoffs
Giants at Vikings: LIVE
Giants advance to Divisional Round after beating Vikings in Wild Card
I did not see this coming! The Giants beat the Vikings 31-24. I said before the game that both teams needed to prove their season wasn't a fluke. Did this game prove the Giants are for real? And/or did it prove the Vikings aren't? I'm not convinced of either, but it doesn't matter because the Giants were clearly the better team today.
There was quite a bit of back-and-forth action and the game stayed close like it did when the Vikings and Giants played on Christmas Eve. But this time, the Giants stayed ahead for the majority of the game and came out on top. And this time, that meant ending the Vikings' season and moving on to the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Giants dominated
The Vikings started off hot, scoring a touchdown on their opening drive. But the Giants started off even hotter, answering with one of their own. They then went on to score another touchdown and a field goal before the Vikings managed to find the end zone again. The Giants were up 17-14 at the half. Though the game remained close, the Giants never fell behind again. They got another touchdown to start the second half, leading the Vikings 24-14, and then allowed one more Vikings touchdown and field goal to tie it up again 24-24 in the 4th quarter. They ended the game with one more touchdown to make it a 31-24 lead and the Vikings were never able to catch back up to them.
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones finished 24-of-35 for 301 yards and two touchdowns, plus 28 yards on 17 carries. His fellow star, running back Saquon Barkley was responsible for two touchdowns while also gaining 109 yards on 14 touches.
Giants to face Eagles in NFC Divisional Round
This marks the first time the Giants have advanced to the NFC Divisional Round since 2011, the year they won the Super Bowl. They will now face the Eagles in Philadelphia in the Divisional Round next week, a much heftier task. The 14-3 Eagles have already beat the Giants twice this regular season.
Can the Giants actually beat the Eagles?
Now that the Giants have defeated the Vikings in the Wild Card round, they move on to face NFC East winners and their familiar foe, the Philadelphia Eagles.
Not shocked? Well, I was.
And with that, the Vikings season is over
GIANTS WIN!!!
The Giants take the knee, let the clock run out, and upset the no. 3 Minnesota Vikings to move on to the second round of the playoffs! They will play the Eagles in Philadelphia next week.
Cousins passes to Hockenson but he's pushed back for only a gain of 3, short of the 1st down and now the Giants will take over with less than 2 minutes in the game.
Cousins pass to Osborn is DROPPED. 4th and 8 Vikings...
TWO-MINUTE WARNING
Cousins pass was short to Cook, he caught it but only picked up 2 yards, 3rd and 8 with two minutes to make a necessary touchdown to stay in this game.
Cousins goes deep for Thielen but he doesn't make the catch, 2nd and 10 at the 46
Cousins get another big gain of 13 on a catch by Hockenson to the Vikings 46
Cousins was nearly sacked, but Giants' Lawrence was called for RoughingthePasser and the Vikings will get 15 yards
Cousins pass to Hockenson for 6 yards, 2nd and 4, clock is still rolling
That was a biiiiiiggggg mistake. The Giants will have to punt it back now and they do.
Jones nearly made a huge play, but Slayton dropped the pass!!
Vikings take 3rd timeout
Jones SACKED by Kendricks for a loss of 5, 3rd and 15
Vikings take 2nd timeout
Barkley gets the ball, but there's no gain, 2nd and 10
Vikings take 1st timeout
The Giants go for it anndddd...they get it! Jones pushes forward with help from his team and it's a 1st down!
Giants take 1st timeout
Barkley runs straight into a wall and he doesn't get it, 4th and inches at the Giants 45. What will they do??
Jones gets away for a yard, Hodgins gets another 7, and they're a yard short of the 1st down, 3rd and 1
Jones gets it to Barkley, who makes a one-handedcatch AND gets a gain of 11! 1st down!
Jones pass forced incomplete by Sullivan, 2nd and 10 Giants
Cousins under pressure, pass incomplete, 4th and 12, they punt it away. Uh oh.
Cousins to Cook, but Cook is pushed back 4 yards. At 2nd and 14, Thibodeaux tackles Hockenson after just 3 yards, 3rd and 12...
Giants' Pinnock was injured during the play
Nwangwu muffs the return, lost a shoe, and still managed to take it back 24 yards
Barkley took the ball up the middle just enough to get the touchdown! It's as close a game as we ecpected. Giants take back the lead with 7:47 remaining.
GIANTS TOUCHDOWN!
Jones throws it away, and Vikings get called for Holding, 1st and goal
Jones takes it up the middle and gets 2 yards for the 1st down! 1st and goal!
Jones gets it to James but he's JUST short of the 1st down, Giants will go for it at 4th and 1
Giants are at 3rd and 5...
Jones under pressure and nobody is open, he throws it away
Jones scrambles up to the 11 for a gain of 5 at the Vikings 11
Jones to Barkley, he gets away and gets the necessary yards, 1st down and 10
Cousins passed to Slayton in the end zone, but it's not complete, 2nd and 10
At 2nd and 10, Jones gets it to Hodgins and he catches it in bounds fir a 19-yard gain
Jones makes another pass to Slayton but it's batted away. Vikings Sullivan gets IllegalContact call, 5 yards, 1st down and 10 Giants
Jones to James takes it up another 11!
Jones to Slayton, beat the blitz, gets a gain of 14 to the Giants 39 and the 1st down
Jones' first pass is incomplete, 2nd and 10
The Vikings were hoping for a touchdown here to pull ahead, but they couldn't pull it off. They settled for a field goal, which Joseph made from 38 yards to tie up the game with 12:34 remaining.
Joseph 38-yard field goal is GOOD!
They went for it but were called for a FalseStart, 5 yards. They're now at 4th and 6 at the Giants 16. Now, they'll try for a field goal instead.
Play was called back, the refs say Hockenson was just short, 4th and 1. WILL THEY GO FOR IT?
Hockenson makes the catch and pushes forward. It looks like he got just enough for the 1st down, but the Giants are challenging it to see if he was down before. The play is under review.
Cook made the catch again and gets the breakaway but he can't stay on his feet so he gets just 4 yards, 3rd and 8
Cook makes the catch but Holmes gets to him stat for a loss of 2, 2nd and 12
END 3rd QUARTER
And that'll take us to the end of the 3rd quarter. The Vikings just got a huge 3rd down conversion on an 18-yard pass to Hockenson. They've got the ball at the Giants 25, 1st and 10.
Cousins shoots it to Hockenson and they get not just the 1stdown but a big gain of 18yards! He's hit hard by Love, but he makes the catch!
Cousins pass complete to Osborn for a gain of 11 but it's short of the 1st down. They'll go for it at 4th and 2...
Cook tries to get away but Smith gets to him, pushes him back 3 yards, 3rd and 13
Cousins got away on the fake and he threw deeeeeeeep but Thibodeaux (back in after having his hand taped up), and it was batted away, incomplete, 2nd and 10
Cousins gets it away to Cook for a pickup of 4 and the 1st down
Cousins to Jefferson for another 4 but it's not enough, 3rd and 2
Cook gets 4 yards but Giants Thibodeaux was injured during the play,
Cousins to Thielen for 12 yards to get the 1st down at the Vikings 36
Indeed, Reagorfumbled the ball on the return and Boydrecovered it at the Vikings 24.
On the return, the ball is FUMBLED but luckily it looks like the Vikingsrecover it again
Jones SACKED by Hunter for a loss of 5
Barkley gets 3, Jones to James is incomplete, and Giants are at 3rd and 7. Can they convert again??
Breida broke 3 different tackles to take it up just enough to get the 1st down.
Giants ate 7/8 on 3rd down conversions today!
Jones to Hodgins for 5 yards, Breida takes it up 4, 3rd and 1 Giants
The Vikings make it a close game again! On several big gains to get the Vikings down the field fast, the touchdown is made by Smith for 3 yards. The Vikings are down by just 3 with 7:46 remaining in the 3rd quarter.
VIKINGS TOUCHDOWN!
Cook takes it up the middle for a gain 6 to the Giants 3, 2nd and goal
Andddd ANOTHER big pickup!!! 25yards to the Giants 9 on a bullet pass by Cousins to Thielen!
Cousins gets it to Hockenson for another big play! He picks up 19yards!
Just kidding, it was just incomplete, apparently Love was down before the catch. 3rd and 7 for the Vikings instead.
Cousins pass INTERCEPTED by Giants' Love!!
Cook takes it up 7 yards, followed by a Cousins pass, getting out of pressure, to Mundt who takes it up 12 to get the 1st down!
Well, that was easy! The Giants get the ball to start off the second half and after a few huge gains by Barkley and Hodgins, it's Bellinger who takes it in 9 yards for the touchdown and the Giants have another 10-point lead to start the half.
6 plays, 75 yards, 3:23.
GIANTS TOUCHDOWN!
A couple of fakes and Slayton finally takes it up 3 yards, 2nd and 7
Hodgins takes off again for another huge breakaway gain of 32yards to the Vikings 12!
Hodgins picks up 10 and it's Barkley who gets the 1st down on yet another big run of 24yards!
Barkley tries to take off but he's stopped by Tomlinson, loses 3 yards instad
And we're back!
Giants are starting us off on offense here in the second half.
Some stats from the first half, Giants lead
HALFTIME
And that will bring us to the end of the first half! Giants are in the lead, but just by 3.
Jones to Bellinger for 8 yards brings them to the Giants 21
Jones gets it to James, but he's immediately tackled by Peterson for 3 yrds
Jones hits it to Slayton and it's incomplete and he is walking off the field apparently injured after being swallowed up by Hicks and Peterson.
Holding call on Giants' Coughlin, 10 yards
Cousins hits Osborn for 9 yards into the end zone to gte the Vikings a touchdown before halftime with 45 seconds left!
VIKINGS TOUCHDOWN!
Vikings take 1st timeout
Cook takes it up 6 more, Jefferson gets another 6 and the Vikings are at 1st and goal!
Cousins makes another huge throw to Hockenson who's wide open again for another pick up of 28yards! Vikings are at the Giants 21, 1st down!
Two-minute warning
With two minutes left in the half, the Vikings are at 2nd and 12 at the Giants 49. They are losing to the Giants by 10.
Cousins gets it away to Hockenson! They beat the blitz and he takes it 27yards!
Cook gets a measly yard, followed by a Holding call on Vikings' Bradbury which brings them to 3rd and 9
The Giants get a huge huge yardage to make it down the field 85 yards, but it took them 20 plays and the Vikings defense stepped it up. They forced the Giants to settle for a field goal, which Gano easily got for 25 yards. Giants still have the 10-point lead with 3:25 in the 2nd quarter.
Gano 25-yard field goal is GOOD!
Jones pass to Cager is INCOMPLETE, 4th and goal
Jones to Hodgins, he is covered by Phillips and it's incomplete, 3rd and goal
Breida takes it up 3 yards but it was a nice trick play! Jones pretended to throw but passed it backwards to Breida. 2nd and goal.
Jones took it up and brought it in for the touchdown, but the Giants are called for IllegalMotion and set back 5 yards to 1st down
Jones to Slayton for another 5, takes the Giants to 1st and goal
Jones to Hodgins who snags it out of the air on a short pass, gets a pickup of 8 yards
Jones under pressure, pass incomplete and loses 2 yards, 2nd and 12
Jones scrambles for 10 yards and then another 12! He is using those legs today. Giants at the Vikings 15.
Jones SACKED by Bullard for a loss of 2 yards
Barkey with a pickup of 4, then 7 to get the 1st down at the Vikings 35
Jones runs it up AGAIN and he gets another pickup of 8 to the Vikings 46 and another 1st down
Jones escapes pressure and instead of a sack, picks up 5 yards, 3rd and 2
Jones scrambles away and takes it up 14 yards! Penalty is Offsides on the Vikings' Smith and it's declined, Giants get the 1st down.
Barkley gets another wee 3 yards.
Jones gets it to Hodgins for a 9-yard catch as he falls backwards to get the 1st down!
Barkley takes it 3, but it's an incomplete on the next play, brings Giants to 3rd and 7.
And when the Giants took the lead!
When the Giants tied up the game on a Barkley run!
The Vikings 3rd-down trick play that didn't work
It's definitely loud here in Minnesota, but that doesn't seem to be affecting the Giants! At least not yet.
Cousins was under major pressure from Wilson and he nearly missed a sack, throwing the ball away, incomplete, 4th down. Vikings forced to punt it back yet again.
Cook takes it up again another 7 yards. On the next play, Cousins tosses it to Smith, but he can't hang on to it, drops it and brings Vikings to 3rd and 3. I don't suggest a trick play here.
END 1ST QUARTER
Cook takes it up 4, then 11 and that takes us to the end of the 1st quarter. Giants lead 14-7. Vikings have the ball at 1st and 10 at the Vikings 40.
Jones hits Hodges for 14yards for a touchdown. They pull ahead with just about a minute left in the 1st quarter. They got down the field quick, gaining 81 yards in just 4 plays and 2 minutes, 3 seconds.
GIANTS TOUCHDOWN!
Jones throws again, this time to Cager for a short gain of 4. Then it's Barkley who finds another hole to spin around a few times and pick up another 16 yards! The Giants are already at the Vikings 14.
Jones to WIDE open Slayton! He takes it up 49 YARDS!!
The Vikings went with the fake to Jefferson, who passed it backwards to Cousins and it did nooooot work. Vikings lost 2 yards to bring them to 4th down and they punt it back.
Mattison took it up and he was actually pushed forward and it looked like he got the 1st down but officials are calling it short. 3rd and 1.
Cousins to Jefferson for 6 yards makes his fifth catch of the day. 2nd and 4.
The Giants respond right away with a touchdown and they did it in 5 plays, 75 yards, and just 3 minutes, 12 seconds. At 1st and 10 at the 28, Barkley found the hole and took off 28yards into the end zone. We have a tie game with 5:11 left in the 1st quarter!
Barkley takes off and he is IN THE END ZONE! TOUCHDOWN GIANTS!
Jones scrambles again and he stiff arms Peterson to get 15yards and the 1st down to the Vikings 28
Jones has all day and he passes to Slayton for 22yards to the Vikings 42!
Jones gets the ball to James for 13 yards to bring the Giants to a doable 2nd and 7. And they do it! Jones scrambles and takes it up the middle just 7 yards to get the 1st down! And the Giants have recovered smoothly.
Holding call on Giants' Gates, 10 yards sets them up for 1st and 20 - not a good start
Barkley finds the hole and takes it up 13 yards but there's a flag on the play...
Vikings TD!
And the Vikings get a touchdown on their opening drive! It was QB Cousins who took the ball up the middle to get into the end zone. The Vikings take an early lead in the Wild Card playoffs.
12 plays, 75 yards, 6:37.
NOW, it's a VIKINGS TOUCHDOWN!
TOUCHDOWN OVERTURNED. Sorry, Vikings. :( Time to try again.
Or was it??
Cousins passed to Jefferson and he caught it just before the end zone and stretched out his arm. It was called a touchdown, but it looked like he had his knee down before he crossed the line. The play is under review, but looks like it could be called back.
VIKINGS TOUCHDOWN!
Cousins to Hockenson is CAUGHT at the 6 to get the 1st down! The Vikings have so many offensive weapons!
Cook gets 6, then 2, brings the Vikings to 3rd and 2 at the Giants 10
Jefferson picks up another 5, and on the next play, the Giants are called for Encroachment, so they get another 5 free, 1st down at the 18
Thielen makes a sliding catch on the ground, but it's perfect! The Vikings get another 13 yards, easy!
Jefferson gets another 1st down with an 11-yard catch, takes the Vikings to the Giants 43. They're movin' along!
Cook takes it up twice in a row for 9, then 2 and the 1st down!
Cousins to Jefferson just short of the 1st down to start off Minnesota on offense
GAME TIME!
And we're off! Giants won the toss, elected to defer. The Vikings start on their own 25-yard line!
Game delayed 20 minutes
The Dolphins came back from a 17-point deficit to make it a close game in Buffalo vs the Bills! It's currently 34-31 Bills with 8:30 left to go, so the Vikings/Giants game has been delayed 20 minutes to give the game time to conclude.
My prediction: Vikings win it
The Vikings have won most of their games by a smidge, and the games they lost, they lost by a lot.
But the Giants have simply lost more games, period. And they've won some games against easy teams. In their last 10 games, the Giants had just three wins, against the Texans, Commanders, and Colts. You'll note, none of those teams are in the playoffs.
The Giants' pass game is weak and that's good for the Vikings defense, who were destroyed in the pass game by the Cowboys, Lions, Eagles, and Packers in the regular season.
The Giants on the road vs the Vikings offensive stars? I don't see them pulling it off.
Home-field advantage for Vikings matters
Oh yes, at U.S. Bank Stadium, it most definitely matters to have home-field advantage! The no. 3 Vikings earned that, finishing 13-4. They were 8-1 at home this regular season and 42-18 (including playoffs) at home since the stadium opened in 2016. It gets noisy in there with the Vikings fans "Skol" chants and that's not doing the Giants any favors today.
The tweet says it all!
FINAL INJURY REPORT: Vikings vs Giants - Adoree' Jackson will make his return!
GIANTS INACTIVES
CB Rodarius Williams
RB Jashaun Corbin
LB Micah McFadden
G Wyatt Davis
G Jack Anderson
WR Kalil Pimpleton
DT Henry Mondeaux
VIKINGS INACTIVES
CB Cameron Dantzler
RB Ty Chandler
OLB Luiji Vilain
DL Esezi Otomewo
DL Ross Blacklock
Giants and Vikings both have something to prove
The Giants are in the playoffs for the first time since 2016 under the guidance of first-year head coach Brian Daboll.
The Vikings won the NFC North for the first time since 2017, but have done so while finishing with a negative point differential.
Both teams have greatly improved this year and both teams are out to prove it’s not all just a fluke.
Vikings have star power
The Vikings have a lot of stars on their team with QB Kirk Cousins, WRs JustinJefferson and AdamThielen, RB DalvinCook, and TE T.J.Hockenson.
Cousins threw for over 4,000 yards for the third season in a row, finishing fourth in the league with 4, 547 total yards. He also tied for fifth in total touchdown passes with 29 on the season, only failing to throw a TD in one game. Jefferson was on the receiving end of those touchdown passes eight times and finished the season with 128 catches and 1,809 receiving yards. In the Christmas Eve game against the Giants, Jefferson had his 10th and final 100-yard game of the season.
Giants’ turnaround year
The Giants may not have the star power that the Vikings do, but they do have QB Daniel Jones and RB SaquonBarkley, both of whom had standout seasons. Jones improved greatly under Daboll’s leadership, posting several career highs on his way to 3.205 yards passing and 708 yards rushing, plus seven touchdowns. Barkley managed to stay healthy all season after dealing with injuries throughout the last two years and finished fourth in the NFL with 1,312 rushing yards.
Though one has a great rushing defense and the other a terrible defense when it comes to rushing, this one is most likely going to come down to the QBs.
Chilly Minnesota day
It's a chilly day in Minnesota, but nice and sunny! No matter though as they'll be playing inside the dome so it won't play a factor in today's game.
Giants out for revenge
The Vikings have won the majority of their games just barely. They ended the season 13-4 and of those 13 wins, 11 were decided by one score. That includes their crazy Christmas Eve game against the Giants.
That game was so close and came down to a field goal - a 61-yard field goal made by Vikings Greg Joseph with seconds left on the clock to give them the 27-24 victory over the Giants.
Interestingly, the Giants have also had several one-score wins in the regular season. Their final record, 9-7-1 came with six wins decided by a single score.
Get ready for a wild Wild Card game!
Hello everyone and welcome to our live text coverage of the New York Giants at Minnesota Vikings!
The Wild Card Weekend continues with the No. 3 Vikings hosting the No. 6 Giants at US Bank Stadium. Kickoff is at 4:25 p.m. ET.
Stick around as we'll be bringing you the latest coverage, updates, scores, stats, and commentary!