New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders Win Games At The Worst Possible Time

For fans of teams eliminated from the playoffs, the only thing left for which to root is the best possible selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. While fans generally want their teams to win, there comes that point where losing is the best-case scenario. That was certainly true of both the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders heading into Week 17. 

The New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders both won in Week 17, hurting their 2025 NFL Draft position in the process.

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The Giants, especially, since they controlled their own destiny with regard to the top overall selection in the NFL Draft. All the team had to do was lose its final two games, and they would finish 2-15, the worst record in the league. 

Instead, the team put together an inspired effort and beat the Indianapolis Colts, a team that had to win to keep its own playoff hopes alive. While "earning" the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft is great for the franchise, the players and coaches are prideful men. 

A loss against the Colts would have meant that the team failed to win a home game at MetLife Stadium this season. But that didn't happen. 

Instead, quarterback Drew Lock had one of the best performances of his career, throwing for over 300 yards and four touchdowns. Lock helped lead the team to a season-high 45 points in the win over Indianapolis, which eliminated the Colts from the playoffs. 

The New England Patriots, who suffered an embarrassing blowout loss Saturday against the Los Angeles Chargers, moved up to the first pick thanks to the Giants win. 

Raiders, like Giants, hurt their NFL Draft position with a meaningless Week 17 victory 

The Las Vegas Raiders entered Sunday with three wins, tied with the Patriots, Browns, Jaguars, and Titans for second-fewest in the NFL, ahead of only the Giants. 

The Jaguars and Titans played each other, with the Jags getting their fourth win of the season and the Titans remaining in contention for the top pick. A Raiders' loss would have kept them squarely in position for a Top 5 pick. 

Instead, they defeated the New Orleans Saints on the road to earn their fourth win of the season, which ties Las Vegas with the aforementioned Jaguars along with the Bears, Panthers and Jets. 

The Raiders went from an assured Top 5 pick to possibly dropping themselves to as low as ninth overall, pending the last few games of Week 17 and, of course, all the games in Week 18. 

There's not a ton of drama left in the race for the NFL postseason, save for a few teams, which makes the race for the NFL Draft's top picks that much more interesting. Thanks to the Giants and Raiders winning in Week 17, there's even more on the line in the season's final week.