When the New Orleans Saints put the finishing touches on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Christmas Eve, it officially clinched a playoff berth for the New York Giants.

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With eight other potential scenarios for the Giants to clinch over the final two weeks of the season, it doesn’t seem particularly odd on the surface that it was the Saints. But perhaps there was a little fate at play.

Going into Saturday afternoon, it was beginning to appear as if the Giants’ chances of a Christmas miracle were fading. The Green Bay Packers had made easy work of the Minnesota Vikings, the Atlanta Falcons put down the Carolina Panthers and the Detroit Lions lost their reason to fight on Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys.

But then the Saints came marching in.

Having had their own playoff hopes dashed earlier in the day, there was little reason for New Orleans to fight other than pride. And with former Giants assistant coach Sean Payton leading the charge, they went ahead and fought for that pride.

Yes, Archie Manning’s former team — the one Eli Manning grew up watching his Father lead — went out and battled to the bitter end.

And with only a yard to go, quarterback Drew Brees handed the ball off to running back Mark Ingram. And the son of former Giants wide receiver Mark Ingram Sr. did what he does best — he put his head down and plowed across the first down marker to secure the win.

From Archie to Payton to Ingram, it was strange twist of football fate that got the New York Giants into the playoffs.