East Rutherford, N.J. – Greetings from a damp and dismal MetLife Stadium–and that doesn’t include the weather, which is sure to keep scores of Giants fans from filling in the seats as the New York Giants close out their disappointing 2024 home slate of games against the Indianapolis Colts.

The Giants, who are in the midst of a franchise-record 10-game losing streak—the longest such streak in the NFL—will be looking to avoid losing all of their regular-season home games for the first time since 1974 and the first time since they moved into MetLife Stadium in 2010. 

The Colts, meanwhile, still have their slim playoff hopes alive. However, they will be without starting quarterback Anthony Richardson, who was downgraded to out on Saturday after not practicing all week. Joe Flacco, who had a brief stint as the Colts starter when Richardson was benched earlier in the season, will get the start.

As far as the Giants are concerned, the overwhelming sentiment among the fan base is to lose this game and protect their status atop the 2025 draft at all costs. But with the jobs of head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen on the line, can the Giants at least be competitive this week? 

Follow along with our live blog and observations as we bring you statistical and scoring updates and track Giants receiver Malik Nabers’ quest to achieve two rookie season milestones, his first 1,000-yard season and his quest to break Rams receiver Puca Nacua’s rookie reception record. 

And to add the following two years ago, when the Giants needed to win to clinch a postseason berth, the Giants won that game 38-10 to clinch their first playoff berth since 2016.

The Giants have not scored 30 points this year (they came close against Seattle with 29 points). The last time the Giants hit 30 points was Week 11 (Nov 19, 2023) at Washington, when they won that game 31-19.

And you want even more? The Giants have had five games so far this season in which they failed to score at least 10 points (all losses).

Following Saturday’s blowout from the Los Angeles Chargers and a narrow victory from the Cincinnati Bengals over the Denver Broncos, the Indianapolis Colts‘ playoff chances are still alive heading into their final two contests of the season.

Yet, while the road for the Colts to go dancing in the postseason is feasible, it won’t be a simple feat.

With the Chargers’ 40-7 victory over the New England Patriots, they effectively lock themselves into the 7th playoff spot in the AFC, leaving one spot up for grabs between the Colts, Bengals, and Miami Dolphins.

The task for the Colts is simple across the upcoming two games: win out.

With the NFL’s 32nd-ranked strength of schedule against the New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars, securing two wins down the stretch to go 9-8 on the season sounds simple enough. However, if the Colts want to find their way into that 7th seed, they’ll need some additional help, even if they win out.

Indianapolis will need to be in a three or four-way tie with the Broncos at a 9-8 record alongside the Bengals and/or the Dolphins in Week 18 to have what it takes to get the last spot in the AFC.

For that outcome to transpire, the Broncos will need to lose against the Kansas City Chiefs, along with either the Bengals defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers, or the Dolphins winning vs. both the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets to tie with the Colts. If that happens, while the Colts take care of their business– they’re in.

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In the event of a multi-team tie in the standings, the deciding factor turns to each team’s win-loss record against their respective conference if they haven’t played head-to-head. For this case, Denver would have a 5-7 record against the AFC, Cincinnati would have a 6-6 record, and Indianapolis and Miami would tie at 7-5 if the Dolphins win out.

Since the Colts beat the Dolphins in Week 7, they have the head-to-head tiebreaker over Miami, so long as Indianapolis wins out over the final two weeks.

Simply put, a lot needs to go the Colts’ way over this week and next to make a last-ditch effort for a postseason run, but it’s far from out of the cards.

The first step to making such a miracle happen for Indianapolis lands on Sunday afternoon when Joe Flacco and the Colts travel to MetLife Stadium to take on the Giants at 1:00 PM.

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The Horseshoe Faithful have spoken this holiday season, and only 24% of Indianapolis Colts fans believe that the franchise is headed in the right direction:

That is slightly up from 17% following the Colts’ home win last weekend against the lowly Tennessee Titans (3-12), but is well within the dregs of optimism. That being said, the Colts have gone 5-5 in their last 10 games, and their inability to beat any of the NFL’s better competition down the stretch this season will likely cost them a wild card playoff spot.

With the Los Angeles Chargers big road win at the New England Patriots on Saturday, the Colts have just a 9% now of making the playoffs.

In reality, their only win against the NFL’s better competition was at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers during Week 4. Otherwise, the Colts have beaten up against the league’s weaker competition, and also had a bad loss during Week 5 at Jacksonville.

Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson has already been ruled out for Sunday on the road against the New York Giants, meaning Indianapolis will turn to veteran Joe Flacco again.

Honestly, it feels like yet another lost season for Indianapolis, in an AFC South where the leading Houston Texans (9-7) haven’t been all that impressive for a consecutive season.

The Colts inability to capitalize in one of the league’s weakest divisions yet again is concerning, especially when it’s really been a ‘lost decade’ for the Colts collectively.

The Colts haven’t made the playoffs since 2020, and they haven’t won the AFC South since 2014, having the longest drought of any divisional team to do so.