This was the rarest of gifts for the Giants, for the players and for the fans who invest so many of their Sunday afternoons in them. This was a consequence-free Sunday. Nothing the Giants did would matter. It was like the NFL infused with “Seinfeld:”

A game about nothing.

The real work — and the real fun — begins now. Next weekend will come an airplane trip to Minneapolis and the franchise’s first playoff game in more than 2,100 days. Next week will come the rich reward of all they have built across the season’s first 18 weeks and 17 games.

Sunday was about fun — or as much fun as an NFL game allows, anyway. Starters were kept off the field, both sides of the ball. Davis Webb walked in off the street and ran for one touchdown and threw for another. The infernal Eagles and their even-more-infernal fans were forced to sweat through a 22-16 win at Lincoln Financial Field that sure should have been a lot easier than this.

But that’s the funny part: There are few things easy about the NFL. The Eagles, who have been superb from the start this season, were the ones forced to play to win a game they absolutely needed (to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC) while, at the same time, doing everything in their power to avoid even a scratch or a scrape. It’s hard to play football that way.

The Giants essentially had a vacation week and still managed to bring some feel-good vibes home with them up the Turnpike. That’s been the theme all year. They’ve lost seven games but almost always managed to sow seeds of hope, even if the scoreboard disagreed. It has bred a team that must be brimming with confidence as the NFL’s marquee season begins.

“It’s a one-game season,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said after this one, which wasn’t official until Philly’s Reed Blankenship smothered an on-side kick with 1:38 left in the game. That finally allowed the 68,879 inside the Linc to exhale. That officially turned the page from what the Giants have done to what they must do. A grand opportunity awaits.

“We need to have our best week of preparation,” Daboll said, and then recalling the first time the Giants faced the Vikings this year he said: “When you play a team close all the way to the end, usually the team that makes a few more plays wins, and they did. All our prep will be geared to that team.”

And here’s the thing: Maybe the standings insist that the Eagles finished 4 ½ games better than the Giants this year. Maybe the Vikings already beat the Giants. Maybe the 49ers have a defense that seems like it’s going to require the rest of the NFC to go through San Francisco to get to the Super Bowl.

Those are the three elite teams in NFC right now. For now, we’ll have to play wait-and-see with the Cowboys, who were grisly in a what-turned-out-to-be meaningless game against mighty Sam Howell and the Commanders on Sunday, and now have Tom Brady to deal with next week in Tampa.

Ask yourself: Should any of those teams frighten the Giants?

Should Minnesota, which only defeated the Giants on Christmas Eve thanks to a 61-yard field goal (and also a spotty DPI that nullified a key interception)? Should San Francisco, which for all its defensive prowess and all its fancy offensive stars is still relying on Mr. Irrelevant at quarterback? Should Philly? Really?

No. The Giants may not be anyone’s idea of a favorite to come out of the NFC, but they are nobody’s idea of a patsy, either. You can be sure the Vikings, given truth serum, would’ve preferred to see someone else on the other side of the field next week at U.S. Bank Stadium, given the way the last meeting shook out.

“We’ve got a bad bug about that game,” Giants safety Landon Collins said, and it’s understandable why.

There is also this: Whatever happens the rest of the way, the Giants are already well ahead of schedule. In Year 1 of the Joe Schoen/Daboll partnership, they are already back in the playoffs. It’s even wrong to say they’re playing with house money; when you clinch your spot with room to spare, it means you’re good enough to expect more than merely a participation trophy.

The Giants are good enough. The real work starts now. The real fun starts next weekend.