Thanks To Stunning Win Over Seahawks, Giants Playoff Chances Now Above 50 Percent

(CBSNewYork)- The winning streak continued for the New York Giants Sunday as they stunned the Seattle Seahawks 17-12 to improve to 5-7 on the season. While Washington won on Monday night to keep pace in the division race, the projection systems favor the Giants, with a better than 50 percent chance, to win the NFC East and make the playoffs.

The turnaround from the team has been impressive, keyed by a defense that has allowed 20 points or less in each of the four wins. Now, heading into Week 14, the Giants are being given a 53 percent chance of making the playoffs by FiveThirtyEight and a 56.8 percent chance according to ESPN's Football Power Index.

The team has four games remaining, only one coming against a divisional opponent, a Week 17 showdown against the Dallas Cowboys. Prior to that game, the Giants face the Arizona Cardinals and Cleveland Browns at home before a road date with the Baltimore Ravens. The Giants main competition for the East title and the playoff spot that comes with it is the Washington Football Team.

Washington, also 5-7 following their upset of the unbeaten Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night, have games remaining on the road against the San Francisco 49ers, home vs. the Seahawks, home vs. the Panthers and then on the road in Philly against the Eagles to close things out.

The simplest way for the Giants to win the division is to beat the Cowboys in Week 17. If they do that and finish with the same record as Washington, they're in by virtue of sweeping the head-to-head meetings.

The Giants could still add wins to their total however over the next three weeks. They are now slight underdogs against the Cardinals based on FiveThirtyEight's win probabilities (49%). In Week 15, they're bigger underdogs against Cleveland (38% win probability). And in Week 16, they are, prior to the Ravens playing later today against the Cowboys, big underdogs in that game (24% win probability).

Washington is an underdog this week against San Fran (31%), next week against Seattle (44%), but are favorites against the Panthers (58% win probability). Both teams are favored against their NFC East opponents in Week 17.

If we were to give wins and losses based on those probabilities, Washington would take the division at 7-9. But, the Giants have a solid chance at beating the Cardinals this weekend considering Arizona's recent play. The Cardinals have lost three straight and four of their last five games. Meanwhile, the Giants are set to see the return of quarterback Daniel Jones who missed this weekend's game due to a hamstring injury.

If the Giants win Sunday and Washington loses, the Giants playoff chances spike to 81 percent in the FiveThirtyEight model. A win over the Cardinals would also improve the very slight though still theoretically possible chances that the Giants could make the playoffs even without winning the division.

It starts on Sunday with the Cardinals coming to MetLife Stadium for a 1:00 p.m. EST kickoff.