Mickey Togs

The New York Giants are returning to the playoffs after defeating the visiting Indianapolis Colts, 38-10.

The Giants are now bound for the postseason for the first time since 2016 and just the second time since the 2011 season when they won Super Bowl XLVI. Along with clinching a playoff spot, New York (9-6-1) assured its first winning campaign since that same 2016 season.

Brian Daboll became the first Giants rookie head coach to earn a postseason bid since Ben McAdoo in the aforementioned 2016 campaign.

While Daboll will draw deserved acclaim, quarterback Daniel Jones has also become the first starting QB not named Eli Manning to deliver Big Blue to the postseason since Kerry Collins two decades ago in 2002.

Amid the myriad historical notes for one of the NFL’s most storied  franchises, New York checked in as the third NFC East team to lock up a playoff spot, joining the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. The NFL’s most high-profile division hasn’t had three postseason entrants since 2007.

The Zach Wilson era with the New York Jets may be coming to an end after this season.

Many believe the Jets will move on from Wilson, the 2021 No. 2 overall pick, after just two seasons.

Wilson has shown almost no improvement in his two years as the Jets’ starter, and has been benched on two different occasions this season for undrafted quarterbacks Mike White and Chris Streveler on Thursday night. 

The Jets’ offense has moved the ball significantly better with the two replacements than it has with Wilson. That is not a good sign for a player that was selected with the No. 2 pick in the draft and expected to be a franchise player.

The only reason Wilson got his starting job back the past two weeks has been an injury to White. Wilson has not exactly taken advantage of the opportunity. 

In 22 career games he has completed just 55 percent of his passes with only 15 touchdowns to 18 interceptions. He has failed to reach the 160-yard mark in six of his appearances this season, including two of his past three starts. 

A week after pulling off the greatest comeback in NFL history, the Minnesota Vikings nearly blew a double-digit lead of their own before walking off with a dramatic 27-24 victory over the Giants on a Greg Joseph 61-yard field goal as time expired.

The Giants were down 24-16 before putting together a desperation seven-play, 75-yard drive punctuated by Saquon Barkley busting through the middle of the Vikings’ defense for a 27-yard touchdown run.

Needing to convert the two-point conversion to pull even, the Giants did it when Daniel Jones bought time in the pocket, rolled to his right and lobbed the ball into the back of the end zone, over the reach of cornerback Patrick Peterson, where rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger made the grab.

The Vikings took over with 2:01 remaining and used a pair of clutch third-down hookups from Kick Cousins to Justin Jefferson — for 16 and 17 yards — to keep alive an eight-play, 33-yard drive that got in range for Joseph’s mammoth kick.

Daniel Jones was 30-for-42 for 334 yards, but it was a struggle all day for the Giants to find points. Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes and the Giants had no answers against Jefferson (12-133) and tight end T.J. Hockenson (13-109), who had two scoring catches.