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2025 NFL Draft order: The Giants’ path to the No. 1 pick narrows
The Giants are still the favorites, but they need help
Week 15 was as close to a disaster for the Giants’ draft position as possible without a “moral victory” over the penalty-ridden Baltimore Ravens.
The biggest blow of the weekend was the Las Vegas Raiders losing a winnable game to the Atlanta Falcons, falling 15-9. Beyond that, several of the teams the Giants needed to lose to lower their strength of schedule came away with victories. Because of that, while the Raiders’ strength of schedule stayed nearly the same (dropping just 0.001), the Giants’ strength of schedule has risen to 0.550. That’s given them the third-highest strength of schedule in the NFL, trailing only the San Francisco 49ers (0.569) and the Chicago Bears (0.559).
The Giants now have to walk a very narrow path to get to the first overall pick. Not only do they need to lose out, but they need the Raiders to win a game or enough of their previous opponents to lose that they win their strength of schedule tiebreakers.
As it stands now, the Giants will lose most tiebreakers they face thanks to their strength of schedule. A single win could drop the Giants all the way down to seventh in the draft order.
Big Blue View
Giants-Falcons odds, Week 15: At least the point spread isn’t double-digits
The New York Giants will, of course, be heavy underdogs when they travel to Georgia to face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. The good news? At least the point spread is not double-digits. FanDuel Sportsbook has the Giants listed as 9.5-point underdogs as of Tuesday morning.
The 2-12 Giants have lost nine straight games. They were 16.5-point underdogs to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. They lost that game by 21 points, 35-14.
Atlanta is 7-7, but had lost four straight games before edging the Las Vegas Raiders, 15-9, on Monday night. The Raiders, 2-12 and locked in a race to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft with the Giants, had a chance to win the game on the final play.
Blogging the Boys
Ranking Top 5 candidates to potentially replace Cowboys’ HC Mike McCarthy
From the outside looking in it looks as if the final three games of the 2024 NFL regular-season could be Mike McCarthy’s last as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. At least, that’s what a lot of the fans around Cowboys Nation are hoping. That may or may not be the case though.
Behind closed doors it doesn’t look as if a decision has been made about Mike McCarthy’s future in Dallas as of yet. Jerry Jones hasn’t outright confirmed McCarthy has a future with the Cowboys beyond this season, but they haven’t completely closed the door on the possibility either.
With the door left ajar, there’s no way of really knowing right now what the Cowboys are thinking in regards to the head coach position beyond this season. That hasn’t stopped all the speculation as to what might happen. In just a few weeks time we should learn McCarthy’s fate and that may or may not lead to a new head coach search.
Today, we thought we would share our top candidates we believe make the most sense to replace McCarthy as the Cowboys next head coach.
#4 – Washington Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury
Kingsbury’s time as the Arizona Cardinals head coach didn’t go as planned, but he’s now redeemed himself as the Washington Commanders offensive coordinator helping rookie QB Jayden Daniels find early success in the NFL. He is another young, innovative playcaller who could help the Cowboys offense become more productive. There are some rumors circulating already he could be a top candidate to replace McCarthy in Dallas.
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atlantafalcons.com
Atlanta Falcons name Michael Penix Jr. the starting quarterback
Head coach Raheem Morris said in a statement that the Falcons will move forward with Penix, replacing Kirk Cousins as the starter.
The Atlanta Falcons (7-7) are making a switch at the quarterback position, replacing Kirk Cousins with Michael Penix Jr. as the starting quarterback in Week 16, according to a statement sent out by the team on Tuesday night.
“After review we have made the decision Michael Penix will be the Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback moving forward,” head coach Raheem Morris said in the statement. “This was a football decision and we are fully focused on preparing the team for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.”
Though the Falcons beat the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football, the offensive performance and lack of production overshadowed the 15-9 win that snapped a four-game losing streak for the organization.
Atlanta never made it to the red zone despite successful field position to begin a handful of drives. As an offense, the Falcons have struggled in the last month to score points, and the conversation around Cousins’ role in that inefficiency has only grown since the end of October, when he led the league in passing yards.
Since then, however, Cousins — along with the team at large — has seen a firm lead in the NFC South slip away.
Exiting Week 15, Cousins led the league in interceptions with 16. For context, nine of those interceptions came in the last five games. During that same time frame, Cousins has only thrown one touchdown pass and the Falcons have only won one game.
They are a game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South standings. With three games left in the regular season (against the Giants, Commanders and Panthers), the Falcons will rely on Penix to help get them the wins they need to stay in-step with the Buccaneers. The Falcons hold the tiebreaker over Tampa Bay, so they can realistically punch their ticket into the postseason by having the same record as Tampa Bay at the season’s end.