A night after the Washington Redskins locked up the NFC East, the New York Giants came out looking like a team with nothing to play for. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings needed a win to seal up a playoff spot and played like it as they routed the Giants, 49-17.

During the first quarter, the Giants looked like they still had some pride as they forced punts on the first three Minnesota possessions, including one on an interception by Eli Manning. On their fourth drive, the Vikings got a field goal and they didn't look back.

After a bad punt by Brad Wing, the Vikings were set up with good field possession at the Giants 44. Five plays later, Teddy Bridgewater found Kyle Rudolph for a 28-yard touchdown. Down 10-0, the Giants answered with a field goal. But then, it all went downhill for New York.

After forcing a punt, the Giants had a third and one. Manning had a miscommunication with receiver Rueben Randle and the pass went into the hands of Harrison Smith, who returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. It was Smith's fourth pick six, which is the most in Vikings history and it was Manning's fifth pick six against the Vikings, most against any one opponent by any active quarterback. After a missed PAT it was 16-3 Vikings. Minnesota tacked on a field goal before the half was over and went into the break with a 19-3 lead.

Minnesota tacked on another field goal on their first drive of the second half and on the Giants first possession of the half, Manning threw another interception, this time to Captain Munnerlyn, who returned it to the Giants four yard line. Two plays later, Adrian Peterson took it in from two yards out to make it 29-3. Minnesota tacked on another field goal from Blair Walsh to make it 32-3, and needless to say the rout was on.

On the next Giants possession, Manning hit Randle deep down the field for a 72-yard touchdown. He got behind the Minnesota defense and made a move to evade two defenders and score from about 30 yards away. But that failed to swing momentum in their favor.

An onside kick was recovered by the Vikings and taken by Robert Blanton to the Giants 18. On third and goal, Jerick McKinnon ran it in from seven yards away to make it 39-10. Walsh made another field goal and then McKinnon burst up the middle for a 68-yard touchdown run that made it 49-10 Vikings.

At the end of the game, Manning hit Myles White for a 25-yard touchdown to make it slightly more respectable at 49-17, which is how the game would end.

With this win, the Vikings are in the playoffs and will play the Green Bay Packers in the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field for the NFC North title. It will be the third straight year the Packers have played for the division title in Week 17. They have won the first two over the Bears and Lions, can they make it a clean sweep of their divisional opponents? We will find out on Sunday Night Football next week. The slim playoff hopes of the Atlanta Falcons are gone.

We know the Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals and Washington Redskins have won their divisions, and the Seattle Seahawks are a wild card team. The two NFC North teams are both in, they just need to arrange where. The Seahawks play the Cardinals in Arizona next week, and if the Cardinals win then the loser of the Vikings-Packers game will be the five seed. If the Seahawks win, they would own the head to head tiebreaker on Minnesota but not Green Bay.

Meanwhile, for the Giants, their win in Super Bowl 46 seems like ancient history. The questions will flare up again if they need to move on from Tom Coughlin or what changes need to be made to get this team back to the playoffs. They have lost seven of their nine losses by one possession or less, have blown fourth quarter leads in five losses, and lost five games in the last ten seconds of game time (with some overlap of the last two, obviously). This team started 5-4 but has lost five of their last six, including their loss in Washington which seemingly was the turning point of both of their seasons.