NFL Winners and Losers: The Giants are horrendous, and probably will be for a while

The surprise at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon wasn’t that the New York Giants got booed off the field at halftime. It’s that there were any Giants fans in the stands at all.

The Giants made the surprising and baffling decision to go with Tommy DeVito at quarterback, after benching and cutting Daniel Jones, and it worked out as everyone figured. DeVito had 31 yards passing at halftime, and 23 of those yards came on one play. The Giants were outgained 290-45, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had 17 first downs to three for the Giants. The Giants were absolutely embarrassed 30-7 by the Buccaneers. And just think, New York has six of these games remaining.

Whatever the Giants were doing Sunday, it was not NFL-level football. The fans were right to let the team hear about it.

There has to be some backstory for why the Giants chose to start DeVito, bypassing Drew Lock. Not that Lock is anyone’s permanent answer but he has had decent moments in the NFL and was a $5 million signing in the offseason. Maybe the Giants thought DeVito would draw out more fans, though those fans just ended up being angry on Sunday. Perhaps New York just wants to lose to get a better draft pick. Baker Mayfield trolled DeVito’s hand gesture celebration, but no Giants fans were laughing.

Frustration is mounting for the Giants.

“It ain’t the quarterback,” rookie receiver Malik Nabers said after the game, via Charlotte Carroll of The Athletic. “Same outcome [when] we had D.J. at quarterback. Take a look. Take a look. It ain’t the quarterback.”

Nabers was asked what the problem was then.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what it is,” Nabers said. “Everybody knows better than me.”

Nabers was asked if it was the play-calling. There was a pause.

“I don’t know,” Nabers said. “Like I said, I don’t know what it is.”

Whoever plays at quarterback, it doesn’t matter. The Giants are going to be awful the rest of the season (and we’re all so lucky to see them play the Cowboys on Thanksgiving). The problem is, they’ll probably be awful next season too. And maybe the season after that.

The Giants’ answer at quarterback presumably revolves around a top-five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. But this isn’t a great class to get a savior. Someone will be overdrafted by the Giants in the top five. It’s probably not worth tanking for. The Giants have to hope that whoever they take at quarterback, perhaps Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders, is an instant star. But either might have been the seventh quarterback taken in this year’s draft. Whoever the answer is, it’ll be far from a sure thing.

But what else do the Giants have to pin their hopes on other than hitting an unexpected home run at quarterback in the draft? They have a decent amount of available salary-cap space next season, but it’s not overwhelming. And it’s the same franchise that let Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney walk in free agency. Barkley and McKinney might both be first-team All-Pros. (Heck, Barkley might be league MVP, particularly after his show of force on Sunday Night Football against the Rams.) Can the Giants make the right decisions with the cap space they do have?

Maybe the Giants follow through on their promise to be patient with general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, and perhaps the best reason for that is ownership would have a tough time selling those positions to a top candidate. They’re among the worst teams in football for a reason. All you’d have to do is turn on the tape of Sunday’s debacle to see how big of a hole the Giants are in. There are a few good pieces, like Nabers, running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. and a good defensive line led by outstanding tackle Dexter Lawrence, but there are also a lot of holes. Anyone who has watched the Giants lately knows that.

There are a lot of bad teams in the NFL. While the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9) might argue, the Giants (2-9) are the worst of the bunch. That happens. Things can snowball on a bad team. The problem is the next few seasons don’t look much better for them. And the rest of this season is going to be unwatchable.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 12 of the NFL season:

WINNERS

All NFC contenders seeing the 49ers lose: San Francisco is a losing team this season. That’s what its record is at 5-6. In an honest moment, would a team like the Detroit Lions feel great seeing a talented 49ers team in the playoffs? Probably not.

The rest of the NFC might not have to worry about San Francisco in January. Without Brock Purdy and Nick Bosa on Sunday, the 49ers were no threat to the Green Bay Packers. They were horrible on offense and defense, and they lost 38-10, the Niners’ second straight defeat. Fox said during its broadcast that the 49ers’ chances of making the playoffs decreased to 15% with the loss, according to Next Gen Stats. And on Sunday, the 49ers looked nothing like a team that could overcome those odds.

Credit to the Packers, who got a massive three-touchdown day from Josh Jacobs, and the 49ers’ injuries played a big role in the outcome too. But you’re not below .500 at Thanksgiving due to just one bad game or some bad injury luck. The 49ers are flawed. And once they’re eliminated, the path to a Super Bowl becomes easier for NFC hopefuls like the Lions and Philadelphia Eagles.

Bo Nix’s OROY chances: Nix still has a bit to go to catch Jayden Daniels in the Offensive Rookie of the Year race. But he has a shot at it.

Nix had another solid day and the Denver Broncos inched closer to a playoff spot with a 29-19 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. The Broncos are 7-5, one of the surprises of the NFL, and a big reason is the play of Nix.

He has been improving each week and he looked good again on Sunday. Nix had 273 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. That came on a day when Daniels had trouble moving the Commanders consistently in a bad loss to the Cowboys. If Nix finishes strong and the Broncos make the playoffs while the Commanders miss out, maybe he’ll steal the top rookie award.

Tua Tagovailoa: A couple months ago, the headline everywhere was how many people were suggesting that Tagovailoa retire after another scary concussion.

The fears over Tagovailoa’s long-term health still exist. But Tagovailoa wanted to keep playing football, and he has returned to play at his normal high level. The Dolphins aren’t in great shape in the playoff race due to the games Tagovailoa missed and some close losses right after he returned, but the Dolphins are playing well. Tagovailoa had a great Sunday, throwing for 317 yards and four touchdowns in an easy 34-15 win over the New England Patriots. The Dolphins’ offense is completely different when Tagovailoa is in the lineup.

The Dolphins are 5-6, on the fringe of the wild-card race. The way the Dolphins have looked the past few weeks, it isn’t out of the question that they could sneak into the field. They’re a completely different team when Tagovailoa is in the lineup.

Detroit Lions’ defense: When Aidan Hutchinson suffered a broken leg in Week 6, there was a concern the Lions’ defense would crater. It’s amazing that the Lions haven’t looked any worse without an NFL Defensive Player of the Year favorite in the lineup.

Detroit’s defense had another big day Sunday. Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson got off to a good start but the Lions put the clamps on, and was especially good in the second half. Detroit held Indianapolis to 11 first downs and no touchdowns as the Lions won 24-6 and improved to 10-1.

The Lions have the best offense in football, and it was decent on Sunday. But Detroit was never in danger because the Colts rarely moved the ball. The difference between the Lions being a good team and the Super Bowl favorite is the defense, which has been among the NFL’s 10 best all season. There’s a reason Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn will be in high demand for head-coaching interviews next offseason.

Sam Darnold: Sunday could have been an awful loss for the Minnesota Vikings. In the final minute of regulation, leading 27-16, the Vikings allowed a touchdown, 2-point conversion, onside kick and a game-tying field goal to the Chicago Bears. That sent the game to overtime. It would have been a miserable collapse.

Darnold helped save the day. He had 330 yards and two touchdowns, and orchestrated a game-winning drive in overtime. The Vikings kicked a field goal to pull out the 30-27 win. It was more dramatic at the end than they hoped, but it was still a win.

The Vikings are 9-2 after the win, hoping for the Lions to slip up in the NFC North. Sunday could have been a huge setback for them. Darnold started the season strong, had a couple rough games with turnovers but started to right himself last week. Sunday showed that he’s back on the right track.

LOSERS

Arizona Cardinals: In the NFL, momentum can be a week-to-week proposition.

The Cardinals were one of the hot teams in the league coming into Sunday’s game at the Seattle Seahawks. They led the NFC West. But one bad outing by the offense, which included a Seahawks pick-6 that turned the game in Seattle’s favor, and the Cardinals were knocked out of first place.

The Seahawks took over the divisional lead with a 16-6 win that wasn’t pretty but effective. The Cardinals never reached the end zone against the Seahawks’ improving defense. The Cardinals are still good enough to get back on track and take the division. Sunday was a step back that might change their playoff outlook.

Washington Commanders: The Commanders losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers at home wasn’t great but understandable. Losing at the Philadelphia Eagles on the road was probably expected.

But losing to this version of the Dallas Cowboys at home? That’s a terrible loss, one that could end up costing the Commanders a playoff spot. And it was a heartbreaker.

The Commanders, one of the NFL’s best stories in the first half of the season, are officially in a slump. The Commander seemingly tied up the game in the final minute on a wild 86-yard touchdown by Terry McLaurin, which happened due to some terrible coverage by the Cowboys. But kicker Austin Seibert missed the extra point, on which there was a bad snap. The Cowboys returned an onside kick for a touchdown to drive the final nail in Washington’s 34-26 loss.

Washington’s special teams cost it the win, and it wasn’t just Seibert’s miss. Washington was struggling most of the day but got back in the contest late in the fourth quarter, cutting the Cowboys’ lead to 20-17, only to watch as KaVontae Turpin had a ridiculous return for a touchdown on the ensuing kickoff. He originally muffed it inside his own 5-yard line, picked it up, executed a spin move to leave the Commanders’ kickoff team grasping at air and then returned it 99 yards for a touchdown.

The Commanders are far from a complete product, and not making the playoffs was expected when the season started. But after a 7-2 start, with Jayden Daniels running away with NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, expectations picked up. A loss to the Cowboys, which might have been avoidable with a made extra point, will hurt for a while.

Ka’imi Fairbairn and the Texans: Houston hasn’t been playing well for a while, and it was really poor on Sunday.

The Texans lost 32-27 at home to the Tennessee Titans, who were 2-8 coming in. It wasn’t all Fairbairn’s fault, but he had a horrible miss Sunday. With less than two minutes left and the Titans leading 30-27, Fairbairn somehow missed a 28-yard field goal. Fairbairn has been one of the best kickers in the NFL this season. When he missed that critical kick on Sunday, he fell over immediately, knowing he’d just blown a huge chance for his team to steal the win. The Texans got the ball back after that but they were in desperation mode and took a safety to effectively end the game.

The Texans are 7-5 and while they’re not in danger of losing the AFC South yet, they aren’t playing like a team that can be a factor in the postseason.

Kansas City Chiefs: Yes, the Chiefs won on Sunday. But it was another outing that won’t impress anyone.

The Chiefs needed a field goal on the final play to beat the lowly Carolina Panthers. The Panthers (3-8) tied the game with a touchdown and 2-point conversion, but Patrick Mahomes’ game-winning drive seemed inevitable. A 33-yard run by Mahomes got the Chiefs in field-goal range, and they kicked it as time expired to win 30-27.

The Chiefs are 10-1 but have escaped in multiple weeks with close wins. They can’t be happy with squeaking out a win over the Panthers, even on the road. At least they didn’t take a loss, as some other favorites did Sunday.