By James Boyd, Charlotte Carroll, Dan Duggan and Jelani Scott
The New York Giants shook up the 2025 NFL Draft, while crushing the Indianapolis Colts’ playoff hopes in the process with a 45-33 win on Sunday.
The Colts’ loss eliminated Indianapolis (7-9) from playoff contention.
The Giants (3-13) picked up their first win at MetLife Stadium this season in their final home game thanks to career days from quarterback Drew Lock and rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers.
Lock tallied a near-perfect passer rating (155.3), 309 passing yards and five total touchdowns — four passing and one rushing. Nabers’ Week 17 effort (seven catches, 171 yards and two TDs) gave the wideout his first 1,000-yard season. In the game’s other facets, New York added three defensive takeaways and the Giants’ first kickoff return TD since 2015.
While the win gave the Giants a rare 2024 highlight, the aftermath clouds the team’s chances for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Giants entered Week 17 as the team holding No. 1 pick, but with the win, the Giants have brought numerous teams back into contention for the pick.
Indy’s playoff hopes go up in smoke
The Colts needed to win Sunday to keep their playoff hopes alive.
They couldn’t deliver.
Indianapolis will miss the playoffs for the fourth straight year after falling in Week 17. The Colts fell behind 21-6 with just under six minutes left in the second quarter and were never able to overcome Lock’s hot start. The Giants QB threw three TD passes on the Giants’ first four drives and finished the first half with more TDs (three) than incompletions (one).
Colts QB Joe Flacco was hardly as successful. The 39-year-old passer, who filled in for the injured Anthony Richardson (back/foot), finished 26-of-38 passing for 330 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. His 13-yard and 7-yard TD passes to receivers Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr. cut the Giants’ lead to two points twice in the fourth quarter. But Flacco’s interception with 2:57 left proved to be the dagger.
Jonathan Taylor tried to put the Colts’ offense on his back midway through the game, but it was to no avail. The running back finished with 32 carries for 125 yards and two TDs, notching his seventh 100-yard rushing game of the season. — James Boyd, Colts beat writer
Giants’ shot at top pick in peril
The Giants broke a franchise record 10-game losing streak and avoided going winless at home for the first time since 1974, but it’ll come with a hefty cost — losing out on the No. 1 pick. With their third win of the season, they’re no longer in control of being the top pick in April with the worst record in the league. And their strength of schedule will determine their position fate.
While players and coaches looked thrilled, fans in the stands and on social expressed trepidation at the possibility of losing out on the pick for the win. — Charlotte Carroll, Giants beat writer
Terrible tackling dooms Indy in defeat
Indianapolis’ season-long tackling issues reared its ugly head again at the worst time.
Three of the Giants’ touchdowns came after the Colts missed open-field tackles, perhaps most egregiously on Nabers’ 59-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter that gave New York a 35-26 lead. The Giants’ rookie caught the ball near the sideline, and cornerbacks Kenny Moore II and Sam Womack III both whiffed on tackles near the sideline that allowed Nabers to race down the sideline and ultimately to victory.
The Giants entered Sunday’s game with the worst scoring offense in the NFL at just 14.3 points per game. However, they exploded for season-high 35 offensive points against the Colts, plus a 100-yard kickoff return TD by Ihmir Smith-Marsette to open the second half. Smith-Marsette’s long score marked the Giants’ first kickoff return touchdown since 2015. The Colts defense also failed to sack Lock and only managed one QB hit. — Boyd
Required reading
(Photo: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)
