With the Falcons beating the Vikings, 24-17, the Giants clinched at least the second seed in the upcoming NFC playoffs. That distinction comes with a bye for the first round, meaning the players will have an extra week to recover from a regular-season's worth of injuries. Brandon Jacobs, Justin Tuck, Fred Robbins and others can chill out and watch other teams battle on wild-card weekend.

The last time the Giants had a weekend off? You'd have to go all the way back to Sept. 28, when they had their bye in Week 4. That's the earliest a team can have a bye. When the season ends in Minnesota next week, the Giants will have played 13 straight weeks.

Other than momentum, Sunday's game in Minnesota will be meaningless for the Giants. Of course, they closed their regular season with a "meaningless" game against the Patriots last year, a loss that many credited for sparking the Super Bowl run.

Three in a row

The Panthers scored a touchdown on each of their first three possessions. How rare is that kind of a stretch against the Giants? It's the first time an opponent has found the end zone on three consecutive possessions against them this season. The only other team to score on three straight possessions was the Bengals, who in Week 3 had a field goal, a touchdown and a field goal in the first half. Only the Browns previously scored touchdowns on consecutive possessions against the Giants.

The Giants forced the Panthers to punt on their fourth possession.

Giant steps

Newly acquired LB Edmond Miles was activated. WR Derek Hagan, who also was signed this past week, was inactive. With Sinorice Moss (calf) sidelined, the Giants had only four wide receivers activated for the game ... Wide receivers coach Mike Sullivan reportedly is a candidate for the head-coaching job at Army. Sullivan is a West Point graduate who coached there for four years in the 1990s ... DT Fred Robbins and RT Kareem McKenzie started despite struggling through injuries during the week ... DT Ma'ake Kemoeatu (ankle), who weighs 350 pounds, was inactive for the Panthers, a loss of more than 40 pounds on the Carolina defensive line.