Giants vs. Patriots: Three must-know storylines for Monday's Week 13 prime-time game

At first glance, Monday night's opponents are eons apart when it comes to contending for a championship.

The Patriots are the AFC's top seed, with a three-game lead in the win column over the Bills in the AFC East and an inside track for a first-round bye. The Giants entered Week 13 as the only club eliminated from the playoffs, having already fired their head coach and defensive coordinator.

However, closer inspection at the teams' similarities suggests New England has the blueprint the Giants could follow for a rapid turnaround.

The Pats finished with four wins just a season ago, which led to the firing of head coach Jerod Mayo. But they nailed their hire of Mike Vrabel, and all the potential quarterback Drake Maye showed as a franchise cornerstone during his rookie season came to fruition after New England surrounded with him more talent in free agency and the draft.

It's easier said than done, but New York might have already accomplished the hardest part: finding a franchise-shifting talent under center. Jaxson Dart absolutely appears to be the guy, and although they are injured, running back Cam Skattebo and wide receiver Malik Nabers round out a terrifying offensive trio. If they can find the right head coach and pull the right levers in the offseason, the Giants aren't far away from reversing their fortunes.

For now, though, they'll have to settle for trying to spoil New England's No. 1 seed dreams.

Three must-know storylines

1) Can Giants finally finish?

It's not only the aforementioned roster pieces that make the Giants potentially so dangerous. It's their fight on the field. The Giants are competitive to a degree far beyond what their 2-10 record suggests. During their current six-game losing streak, they've held a 26-8 fourth-quarter lead over the Broncos, a 20-10 fourth-quarter lead over the Bears, a 20-19 lead over the Packers with half the final frame remaining, and a 27-24 lead over the Lions while possessing the ball at Detroit's 6-yard line with three minutes left. Those are all teams with seven or more wins, not merely pushovers that found the Giants tough to deal with before eventually breaking their heart. Also in the positive column: The latter three letdowns came with Jaxson Dart sidelined. Dart sustained a concussion late against Chicago, aiding a collapse, and perhaps could've made a difference against Green Bay and Detroit. He's back now with another shot at upsetting a top team, and he'll likely be pivotal to the game plan, considering the Pats are second in the league against the run but only 17th stopping the pass. If it's at all close in crunch time, it'll be a massive weight off the rookie's shoulders if he and Big Blue can finally pull through.

2) Maye looks to get arrow pointing back up

Drake Maye has been stupendous this year and entered Week 13 leading the league in completion percentage (71.0) and passing yards (3,130). If he continues to pace all passers in both categories until season's end, he'd join a list exclusively made up of Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers who have accomplished such a feat since 1980: Drew Brees (2011), Tom Brady (2007), Peyton Manning (2003), Kurt Warner (2001) and Brett Favre (1998). Before two weeks ago, he had a five-game streak with multiple TD passes. He threw just one against the Jets in Week 11, then threw a pick to accompany his lone touchdown in Week 12 versus the Bengals. The Patriots barely snuck by in that one, and it's a testament to how well their season has gone that the narrow victory -- the team's ninth straight -- seemed to cause some consternation within the fan base. While New England is in fantastic shape and most concern amounts to nitpicking, a player of Maye's caliber will want to get back to being otherworldly rather than simply good, especially after coming away from facing the worst defense in the NFL with his worst passer rating (87.1) since Week 1. New York's D has also proven easy to expose, and one of the most dangerous things about New England's offense is people never know where the output is about to come from. Sometimes it's a tight end day, as it was last week when Hunter Henry had 115 yards and a score on seven catches. Other times, it's a steady dose of Stefon Diggs or a deep-ball assault via Kayshon Boutte. Rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson has also gotten more and more involved lately. Hopefully for the Patriots, whoever's turn it is Sunday coincides with Maye returning to MVP form.

3) Charlie Bullen sees his first game as interim DC

New York isn't sitting idly by as the season goes on after firing head coach Brian Daboll. Following yet another late collapse, interim coach Mike Kafka fired defensive coordinator and replaced him with outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen. It was a move that had to be made at some point. Despite committing the second-most amount of cap space on the defensive side of the ball in 2025, the Giants have allowed 27.8 points per game and 385 yards per game, both 30th in the NFL. Perhaps it makes sense to elevate Bullen on an interim basis, considering the pass-rushing group he was responsible for has being doing its job. Although Kayvon Thibodeaux is out with a shoulder injury, Brian Burns has 13 sacks on the season, which trails only the Browns' Myles Garrett through 12 weeks. Rookie Abdul Carter only has 0.5 sacks, but his 43 pressures stack up pretty nicely next to Burns' 44. He's getting near the QB and causing stress, just not getting home. Bullen must now spread his attention beyond the edge to an interior defense that's allowed the most rushing yards in the league, a secondary that's bottom third against the pass and an overall unit that's let up to often late in games. It'll be quite a first test going up against the No. 4 scoring offense right off the bat.

Giants' Week 13 injury report

Patriots' Week 13 injury report