Giants’ Rooting Guide for 2021 NFL Draft Implications of Week 16

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As the NFL moves into Week 16, the New York Giants are, surprisingly, not officially eliminated from playoff contention. 

At 4-10, they are the team with the worst record that still can’t say for sure they are out of the race. But even with a favorable schedule that features the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Football Team and Chicago Bears, it’s safe to say that fans’ hopes are more likely pointed toward the NFL draft. 

As it stands, the Giants are in contention to have two top-five picks. They are slated with the No. 5 and 6 picks by virtue of owning the Bears’ pick from last year’s trade down that brought Justin Fields to the Windy City. 

The ability to add two blue-chip prospects to a young core in New York that already has exciting young talents should be the silver lining in a season that has been marred by injury and disappointing results. 

In order to maximize those draft picks, here are three results the Giants faithful can be rooting for in Week 16. 

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Things got interesting with the No. 1 pick last week. While it looked like the Detroit Lions had the top selection on lock for the majority of the season, they inexplicably beat the Arizona Cardinals while the Jaguars found a way to lose to the lowly Houston Texans. 

Now the Jags sit atop the draft board at 2-12 and it’s hard to envision a scenario where they give up the top selection now. 

So the Giants have virtually no chance to catch the Jags and shouldn’t want to. They can, however, leapfrog the Jets. That’s especially true if the 3-11 franchise tops the Jaguars this week. 

According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Jets have a 52.4 percent chance of coming away with a win. However, given their recent results, it’s hard not to think that Robert Saleh’s team has an even better chance than that. 

The Jags lost to the Texans last week in what wasn’t much of a competitive game. They lost 30-16 and trailed by double digits through long stretches of the matchup. 

Meanwhile, the Jets were at least competitive with the Dolphins. Miami is one of the hottest teams in the league right now, but the Jets tied the ballgame at 24 apiece with seven minutes, 45 seconds left thanks to a pick-six from Brandin Echols. 

That competitiveness should be enough to earn a win over this Jaguars team. 

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While the other two games on this list are reasonable, this is going to be a tough ask. The Texans are coming off a dominant win, but beating the Los Angeles Chargers while they’re in the middle of the playoff hunt will be tough. 

At 8-6 on the season they are holding on to the No. 6 seed in the AFC, but there are five teams with the same record vying for the same four playoff spots. 

But another Texans loss doesn’t help the Giants’ playoff cause, so there’s no choice but to hope for the upset here. 

If we are looking for reasons it could happen, there are a few. For one, the Texans’ offense had its best outing since Week 1. Even without the defensive touchdown, the 24 points they generated is the second-highest of the season. 

The key will be how well the Texans can run the ball. They haven’t done it well all season, but it is the obvious weakness in the Chargers defense. They are giving up 4.6 yards per carry, which is 28th in the league. 

The bad news is the Texans ground game has only generated 3.2 yards per carry, which is the worst number in the league. 

But, hey, the Lions beat the Cardinals last week. Anything can happen. 

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The Seattle Seahawks will welcome the Chicago Bears to Lumen Field coming off a short week after they played on Tuesday night. 

The good news for them is they will be getting a Bears team that played on Monday night and put up just nine points, so it isn’t like they are playing a tough opponent who is well-rested. 

This one has major draft implications for both the Jets and the Giants. The Jets still own the Seahawks’ first-round pick from the Jamal Adams trade, while the Giants own the Chicago pick. 

With the Bears’ pick sitting at No. 5 and the Seahawks’ pick at No. 8, both could be on the move this week. 

For the Giants’ sake, they’ll be hoping that Russell Wilson and the Seahawks offense can put together enough to outpace Fields and the Bears. 

This one should be a defensive affair. The Seahawks have been awful at protecting Russell Wilson, and the Bears pass-rush is still formidable. Robert Quinn has 16 sacks on the year, and that number will likely climb in this one. 

Still, the Seahawks have shown a pulse while the Bears are practically flatlined at this point. Chicago is 1-8 over its last nine games, while Seattle has at least won two of its last three.