Anybody who has ever been to Las Vegas has misplaced in Las Vegas. However most on line casino losers don’t stroll away with the grand prize as a reward.
That’s what the Giants (2-13) will do on Sunday in the event that they fall to the Raiders (2-13) at Allegiant Stadium simply off the Vegas strip.
A loss will put the Giants within the drivers’ seat for the No. 1 total decide in April’s NFL Draft, for the reason that Raiders are their main competitors for that slot.
Not that the Giants’ gamers care. They’ve their very own motivations, like attempting to snap a nine-game dropping streak and bettering their stats in opposition to one of many NFL’s worst groups.
“I actually don’t assume we discuss that half an excessive amount of, concerning the draft positioning and wanting a sure decide or something like that,” extensive receiver Wan’Dale Robinson mentioned. “I feel we simply need to go on the market and play our greatest soccer and go on the market and get a win.”
However there isn’t a lot else left about this Giants season that’s of any curiosity.
There’s solely the top teaching search, the job safety of GM Joe Schoen, the continuing analysis of quarterback Jaxson Dart and the draft decide that New York will land for being one of many worst groups within the NFL — once more.
Nearly all of the Giants’ disgusted fan base desires their workforce to lose this recreation. The upper the decide the Giants land, the higher the participant they will decide or the higher the property they will purchase in a commerce again this spring.
Contained in the constructing, there are a number of causes to desire a win regardless of the draft decide {that a} loss might earn them.
The Giants, who’re 0-8 on the street this season, are one loss away from recording their first winless season on the street since 1976, after they went 0-7 on the street, per Elias Sports activities Bureau.
The Giants have misplaced a franchise file 13 straight street video games relationship again to a 29-20 win in Seattle on Oct. 6, 2024, of final season. So a loss to the Raiders would prolong that unthinkable streak to 14.
Shedding to the Raiders additionally would give the Giants 10 straight losses total, which might tie the franchise file that Brian Daboll and Schoen simply set final yr from Oct. 13 via Dec. 22, 2024.
Interim head coach Mike Kafka (0-5) continues to be on the lookout for his first win operating the Giants, too. And though the Dallas Cowboys could also be sitting gamers for the Week 18 season finale at MetLife Stadium, this journey to face the Raiders completely seems like Kafka’s finest and probably solely probability to get that win.
What the remainder of the league can be watching, although, is how this Giants-Raiders consequence impacts the NFL Draft order.
It’s mainly a three-team race for the No. 1 total decide between the Giants, Raiders and Cleveland Browns.
The Raiders have a 37.3% probability of touchdown the No. 1 total decide, per ESPN Analytics. The Giants are shut behind, with a 36.1% probability of choosing first. And the Browns have a 24.4% chance of touchdown the No. 1 decide.
The Jets (2.2%) are on the skin trying in.
So in a full circle second, Raiders quarterback Geno Smith — whose lone 2017 Giants begin at quarterback instead of a benched Eli Manning prompted the firings of Jerry Reese and Ben McAdoo — will both hand New York the highest decide within the draft or put his previous franchise within the historical past books for extra ineptitude.
Raiders defensive coordinator Pat Graham, the Giants’ DC underneath former head coach Joe Decide, will affect the notion of Dart and the destiny of his former employer with how his aspect of the ball fares in opposition to Kafka’s offense.
And Schoen will both have a prime draft decide or a long-awaited win to incorporate in his gross sales pitch to possession come the New 12 months.
These are excessive stakes. Acceptable that it’s happening in Vegas.
