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5 players to watch Sunday vs. Vikings

PLAYERS-TO-WATCH-WEEK-16

The Giants will return to MetLife Stadium for the second consecutive week when they take on the Vikings Sunday at 1 p.m. Coming out of the bye, the Giants dropped the second meeting against the Commanders, 29-21. The Giants close out the season with a trip to Las Vegas next week before a divisional matchup against the Cowboys in Week 18.

After losing four consecutive outings following their Week 6 bye, the Vikings have now won back-to-back games. Both wins came against the NFC East (Commanders and Cowboys) and both resulted in the Vikings topping the 30-point mark. This comes after they combined for just 23 points from Weeks 11-13.

Here are five players to watch in the Week 16 matchup.

QB Jaxson Dart

Jaxson Dart got off to a rough start against the Commanders last week. The rookie quarterback completed only seven of 16 passes (43.8 percent) for 71 yards and an interception in the first half, with the turnover coming right before halftime and directly leading to three points for the Commanders. But Dart adjusted at halftime and showed significant improvement over the final two frames.

After the break, he threw for 175 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers while leading two other drives that could have resulted in points (missed field goal, turnover on downs inside the 5-yard line). On top of his production through the air, the 22-year-old also took nine carries for 63 yards (7.0 avg.), marking his second-highest rushing total of the season.

The strength of the Minnesota defense this season has been in the passing game. The Vikings rank fifth in passing yards and third in passing touchdowns allowed on the year, although their five interceptions are tied for the second-fewest in the NFL. Brian Flores' unit did a good job of limiting Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott last week, as the veteran completed 60.5 percent of his passes for 294 yards and no touchdowns. Flores is one of the top defensive coordinators in the league with his ability to disguise looks and make things tough for opposing quarterbacks, especially young signal-callers.

"Coach Flores does a great job, keeps it multiple, understands protections, stresses protections, stresses you on every single down and distance," offensive coordinator Tim Kelly said to the media Thursday. "It's not just, hey, we're okay on first and second down, and third down, here it comes. You have to be ready from jump. So just really, really continuing to teach the looks and teach what certain things look like, where your answers are and really stress to him, don't try and be perfect. If you do that against a defense like this, there's going to be some paralysis by analysis."

See the top photos from practice as the Giants prepare for their Week 16 matchup against the Vikings.

RB Tyrone Tracy Jr.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. is coming off one of his most well-rounded performances of the season. The second-year back led the team with 15 rush attempts for 70 yards (4.7 avg.) and a touchdown as he showed a nice combination of poise and explosiveness coming out of the backfield. He also contributed in the passing game, catching three passes for 27 yards and a second touchdown, with the score coming on an impressive throw and catch from Dart and Tracy.

This marked Tracy's first multi-touchdown game of the season as the 26-year-old finds himself in a dominant stretch. Taking out the Week 13 game against the Patriots in which he departed in the first half with a hip injury, Tracy has totaled 97 yards, 130 yards and 139 yards in his last three full games. In two of those outings, he averaged over 4.5 yards per carry, and in all three he totaled no fewer than three receptions for 27 yards.

The area to attack the Vikings defense is on the ground. Minnesota ranks 24th in rushing yards allowed on the season, although that has come on the third-most rush attempts of any team. The unit has been more efficient than the total numbers show as their 4.1 avg. yards per carry allowed ranks 13th. Nonetheless, the Vikings have allowed 125 or more rushing yards in five of their last six games. Dallas' Javonte Williams and Malik Davis combined for 128 total yards of offense and two touchdowns last week.

WR Wan'Dale Robinson

Lost by some in the 2025 campaign has been the strong play of Wan'Dale Robinson. The fourth-year receiver brought in five of 10 targets for 54 yards against the Commanders last week, including his fourth touchdown of the season. With three games left in the season, Robinson has already set several new career-high marks with his 882 receiving yards, 11.3 yards per reception, and four receiving touchdowns, all of which top his previous high marks set in 2024. With another 16 receptions over the next three weeks, he would also set a new personal-high with 94 receptions.

Ever since Malik Nabers was lost for the season back in Week 4, Robinson has done a tremendous job of stepping up as the team's No. 1 option in the passing game. He leads the team in targets, receptions and receiving yards by a wide margin, while his four receiving touchdowns are one behind Theo Johnson for the team-lead.

Nabers' injury has led to Robinson lining up more on the outside than ever before in his career. Prior to this season, his lowest percentage of snaps lined up in the slot came in at 78.1 percent (2024). This year, that percentage has dropped to 67.9, as he has expanded his route tree and shown the ability to line up more on the outside. Regardless of where he lines up, Robinson is faced with a tough matchup this week. Dallas' CeeDee Lamb was the first wide receiver to top 100 yards against Minnesota since A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith both did it back in Week 7. Over that same stretch, only Lamb, Ladd McConkey and Amon-Ra St. Brown topped 75 receiving yards against the Vikings.

OLB Abdul Carter

Abdul Carter put together the best game of his young career in Week 15. The No. 3 overall pick recorded seven total tackles (five solo), one sack, three tackles for loss, four total pressures, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery as he wreaked havoc on the Commanders all game. He also performed well in the run game, according to Pro Football Focus, as he picked up a season-high five run stops. PFF not only named Carter their Rookie of the Week, but the analytics site also had the rookie as their highest ranked edge defender overall in Week 15.

"I thought it was a great performance," defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen said. "Those are the types of games and plays that I think he's capable of making. So, it was great to see, it kind of came together for him and he helped the team win in a big way and made some impactful plays and I was happy for him."

Carter had one of the top performances we've seen from a Giants rookie defender in a long time. His two forced fumbles were the most in a game since Jason Pierre-Paul had two against the Jaguars back in 2010, while Carter's three tackles for loss matched the franchise's rookie record for the most in a game, tying Kayvon Thibodeaux and his three against the Commanders in 2022. The 22-year-old now has sacks in back-to-back games with 10 total pressures over that stretch.

Both Carter and Brian Burns will face difficult matchups this weekend. The Vikings boast one of the league's top tackle duos in Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill. Darrisaw has only one game in which he's allowed a sack all season (he allowed two against the Packers in Week 12) while surrendering a total of 18 pressures in 10 games. Meanwhile, O'Neill has also given up just two sacks and 17 total pressures in 12 games.

ILB Darius Muasau

Darius Muasau made his return to action this past weekend after an ankle injury suffered against the 49ers in Week 9 forced him to miss the next four games. In his first game back in over a month, Muasau hit the ground running. The second-year linebacker led the team with 11 total tackles (five solo) while playing 80.3 percent of the team's defensive snaps and 34.5 percent of the special teams snaps. Muasau also added one pressure and three run stops, according to PFF.

The Vikings have not done a whole lot on the ground this season, but that's not due to a lack of talent in the backfield. Veteran Aaron Jones has had double digit touches in seven consecutive games, five of which have led to him finishing with an average yards per carry of 4.4 or higher, including three games with an average above 5.0. During that same stretch, he also has five games with three or more receptions. Then there's Jordan Mason, the more physical option in the run game, who has averaged more than 4.5 yards per carry in five of his last six outings, albeit on fewer touches. On the season, Mason is averaging 4.6 yards per carry, which surprisingly would set a new career-low for the fourth-year back, who has never averaged fewer than 5.2 yards per carry in his young career.

View rare photos from the all-time series between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings

Screenshot 2025-08-01 at 3.36.49 PM

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