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The "Tank Bowl" was actually last weekend, when the New York Giants won at the Las Vegas Raiders 34-10. However, the Giants win was actually a loss for them, in the grand scheme of things.
According to ESPN Analytics, the Giants would have had a 99.7% chance of obtaining the #1 pick in April's 2026 NFL Draft, had they lost in Vegas this past Sunday. And if there is one thing that the city of Las Vegas is used to, it's out-of-towners who believe they have won, when in actuality they have lost.
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NYG's chances are now at only 10.7%, according to the same set of analytics. The Raiders can clinch the top spot on Sunday with a loss at home to the Kansas City Chiefs or a Dallas Cowboys win at the Giants. Vegas also hits the #1 pick jackpot if three of the four teams listed here lose: Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns and Seattle Seahawks.
Meanwhile the Giants path to the best selection is way more convaluted. They must lose, have the Raiders win and somehow get one win and one tie from among the Falcons, Bears, Browns or Seahawks.
Good luck with that.
Ironically, the Giants are not in line to pick second right now, as that slot belongs to their MetLife Stadium roommates, the New York Jets. "Big Blue" is actually slotted third right now, and to add even more irony to the situation, the Jets do not have a path to the first overall pick.
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This will likely mark the second straight season in which the Giants let the top overall pick slip away. Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart dismissed the idea that last week was a "Tanking Bowl."
"I felt it was just noise," Dart said. "Sometimes that just happens. You know, us not having the year that we wanted and people just start talking, but from a player perspective, from a team perspective, I thought we were dialed in all week and, you know, we needed to win.
"Just from a morale [standpoint], just some excitement finally. We needed to win. And that's how we felt."
Dart has been a bright spot in an otherwise very dark season for the Giants. With a 13-5 TD-INT ratio, 58.1 QBR and an 89.8 passer rating, he looks the part of a franchise QB that they can build around. While they have plenty of issues, on both sides of the ball, the offseason makeover of the passing game seems to be going well.
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Former Giants tight end Kyle Rudolph is big on Dart. He has even compared him to current reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen. Rudolph, however, was not a fan of his former club firing head coach Brian Daboll.
He believe it's bad for a young quarterback to have to pick up a new system again, so early in their professional career, as Dart will have to do when the Giants hire their new coach.
"One of the hardest things for a young quarterback is to go learn a completely new system," Rudolph said in an exclusive with RG.org. "Brian Daboll, he's a coach that developed Josh Allen. He's a coach who's known for his offensive scheme, everything that he did in Buffalo.
"We'll see. Ultimately, the organization felt like it was best to move on. For what reasons, I may not know. But you certainly would believe that you want to give your young quarterback the best opportunity to develop and have some continuity.
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"Now here in his first two years, he's going to have two different systems that he has to learn."
It will no doubt be a tremendous challenge for Dart moving forward, as it will take much longer than "a New York minute" (credit to Don Henley) to get this thing turned around.
However, the draft should help, as the Giants will add another potential building block for Dart to work with.
This article originally appeared on Draft Wire: Raiders likely to land #1 pick, but the Giants still have a chance
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