PHILADELPHIA — For the Giants, it is onto Minneapolis for a playoff meeting with the Vikings, a team the Giants battled to the wire on Christmas Eve. That game — a 27-24 defeat in the final seconds at U.S. Bank Stadium — figures to imbue this postseason newbie with confidence for the rematch. 

Unless the Giants do not believe they need any such thing. 

“I like us over anybody, for real,’’ defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence said Sunday, after a bunch of Giants reserves, including No. 3 quarterback Davis Webb, did a more-than-credible job competing with the highly motivated Eagles starting units, losing 22-16 at Lincoln Financial Field. 

“It’s a team we played before, we’re used to and we know what we’re gonna get so I’m excited.’’ 

Sure enough, these are exciting times for the Giants, who finished up their regular season at 9-7-1 to make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. They are the No. 6 seed in the NFC and will face the No. 3 seed Vikings at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. The Giants are underdogs, of course, but this is nothing new for a team widely expected to compete more intensely for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft than it was to find a way to a winning record and a return to the NFC tournament. 

“All of our preparation will be geared towards that team,’’ coach Brian Daboll said. “They’re a fantastic team. Well coached. We’re going to have to do a good week of preparation.’’ 

Daboll made the not incredibly hard decision to rest virtually all of his starters against a team that needed to win to secure the No. 1 seed in the NFC — a team that hammered the Giants 48-21 in Week 14. An ugly, one-sided loss would not have done a thing to the Giants’ playoff seeding but it would have been an unpleasant way to end this chapter. It was anything but. 

The Eagles (14-3) attained the coveted first-round bye but it was not exactly an impressive tuneup. 

Now the Giants can give their full concentration to what comes next. They lost to the Vikings at the final buzzer on Greg Joseph’s 61-yard field goal after Daniel Jones led the Giants on a late fourth-quarter drive to tie the game. 

“I talked to some of the guys after the game against Minnesota and said ‘We’ll see you guys again,’ ’’ Saquon Barkley said. “It was a fun opponent, it was a fun matchup. That environment … how close it was, obviously unfortunately we lost. I envisioned the playoffs kinda being like that. It’s a one-week season now, win you advance, lose you go home, it’s that simple.’’ 

The Giants know they can play with the Vikings, who finished a fine season at 13-4 to easily win the NFC North title. 

Three major blunders cost the Giants in their Week 16 loss: A fumble by rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger on the first play of the second quarter took place on the Vikings the 26-yard line, costing the Giants points. The turnover led to a Vikings field goal for a 10-0 lead. Jones found success throwing across the middle of the field to Isaiah Hodgins against cornerback Patrick Peterson but explored that matchup once too often. The result was a fourth-quarter interception with the Giants on the Vikings 32-yard line. 

Trailing 17-16 late in the third quarter, Jamie Gillan had a punt blocked on a rush right up the middle, allowing the Vikings to take possession on the Giants’ 29-yard line. Five plays later, Kirk Cousins found Justin Jefferson for a 17-yard touchdown hookup to make it a 24-16 deficit for the Giants with 3:06 remaining. 

Still, the Giants had a shot. Jones directed a seven-play, 75-yard drive, passing to Darius Slayton for 32 yards and then Barkley found a crease up front for a 27-yard touchdown burst to make it 24-22. Jones rolled to his right on the two-point conversion attempt, showed great patience and hit Bellinger to tie the game. 

It took a clutch 17-yard completion from Cousins to Jefferson on third-and-11 to put the Vikings in range for Joseph’s long-distance field goal at the buzzer to deny for one week the Giants a chance to clinch a playoff berth. 

“I think if we played a clean game it would have been a different story,’’ offensive lineman Nick Gates said. 

This time around, the defense will be more fortified on the back end. The Giants in the first meeting played without their top cornerback, Adoree’ Jackson (knee), and their top safety, Xavier McKinney (hand). McKinney returned the next week and played in the victory over the Colts and Jackson is expected to be able to return after missing the past seven games. Those are two major additions, although Jackson figures to have some rust after such a long layoff. 

“When we play consistently, no penalties we’re a hard team to beat,’’ Gates said. 

“It’s what you dream of,’’ Barkley said. “It’s the playoffs, you want to go out there and give it your all.’’