Yannick Peterhans / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images/Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
The New York Giants are 2-14. The Las Vegas Raiders are 2-14. In Week 17, they’re playing each other, giving the loser of the game the inside track to the #1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. In other words, it’s the Tank-a-thon Super Bowl.
Neither the Las Vegas Raiders nor the New York Giants are being shy about their intentions, either, as both teams have announced a slew of inactives over the course of the week in a seemingly rally-like fashion: first one team announces an injury designation, then the other, and back and forth they went.
On Wednesday, the giants announced that Andrew Thomas, Tyler Nubin, John Michael-Schmitz, Evan Neal, and DK Davidson would not be practicing, which came after the Raiders shutting down star tight end Brock Bowers and pass rusher Maxx Crosby for the remainder of the season.
The New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders spent the week going back-and-forth announcing new injury designations
Fantastic counter to the Crosby news
This is going to be a historic tank game in NFL History https://t.co/3Jfq5wI550
— Football (@BostonConnr) December 26, 2025
Giants trying to counter the Raiders shutting down Brock Bowers for pick No. 1. https://t.co/JOZYWdYC78 pic.twitter.com/iSC6jb8Qbo
— Moe Moton (@MoeMoton) December 24, 2025
“Entire feed is just the giants and raiders going band for band on ruling out players for the tank bowl,” one viral tweet said.
“To counter the Raiders’ move, the Giants need to start Russ, Deonte Banks and Jalin Hyatt on Sunday. It’s the only way,” another suggested.
“Raiders-Giants ticket holders should be offered refunds. This is dumb,” a third claimed.
Giants are gonna cancel their flight to Vegas and forfeit the Raiders game https://t.co/VeexK1hb6S pic.twitter.com/wtgM1UkXDP
— Clem (@TheClemReport) December 27, 2025
Giants vs Raiders tank off is gonna have so many long term implications on the NFL they sent Kevin Harlan to call it https://t.co/lIQSAG9Rtz pic.twitter.com/3r3O0PAj0k
— . (@J0nesToChina) December 22, 2025
The “Tank Bowl” between the Giants and Raiders will be on Sunday, December 28 at 4:05 p.m. EST. The Giants enter the matchup as narrow 1.5-point favorites over the Raiders.
If the Raiders were to secure the #1 overall pick, they’d likely draft a new quarterback, perhaps Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza. The Giants, however, have rookie Jaxson Dart at the position, meaning they’d likely avoid selecting a signal-caller.