The New York Giants' chances of making the playoffs next season just became clear.
The New York Giants have certainly had an eventful offseason, hiring John Harbaugh to be their new head coach and reshaping their roster with key pickups like Isaiah Likely, Tremaine Edmunds and Arvell Reese.
That is only a small portion of the Giants' makeover, which has many wondering if New York can actually be a playoff team next year.
The Giants have made just two postseason appearances since 2012 and went 4-13 last season, although it should be noted that New York blew a handful of double-digit leads and easily could have won seven or eight games.
So, is 2026 finally the year Big Blue breaks through?
Well, after the NFL's schedule release, it unfortunately seems pretty hard to imagine the Giants actually making the playoffs next winter.
New York's slate isn't quite as brutal as 2025, but it isn't exactly full of cupcakes, either, featuring road matchups against the Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions. The Giants will also have to host the San Francisco 49ers and Jacksonville Jaguars in difficult clashes.
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart. Credit: USA TODAY Network.And of course, New York will also have to play its divisional foes six times, and that's never easy.
Looking at the Giants' schedule, I'm seeing around eight wins for this team next season, which actually wouldn't be a bad thing at all. Doubling your win total from the year prior is never bad (unless you went 1-16).
Is there a chance that New York wins nine or 10 games and sneaks into the postseason field? Sure, but it would take a fantastic sophomore campaign from Jaxson Dart plus clean bills of health from both Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo.
The Giants also still have some flaws that could be exposed, such as their rather questionable secondary (especially at cornerback) and a receiving corps that could be really good or really terrible depending on Nabers' health and what version of Darnell Mooney the G-Men get.
As much as I would like to sit here and proclaim that the suffering is over, I just can't do that right now.
The NFC is absolutely loaded, and even with three Wild Card teams, it's going to take a herculean effort for New York to actually punch its ticket to the dance.
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