Giants fans, you know exactly who you want as your wild-card playoff opponent and who you shouldn’t want. 

Bring on the Vikings!

But absolutely not the 49ers. 

The Giants — with a meaningless-for-them game against the Eagles to finish out the regular season — are peaking; Daniel Jones is playing the best quarterback of his career; they stood toe-to-toe with the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on Christmas Eve; and they will be fueled with self-belief they can beat them in a rematch — especially with a secondary that this time will include Xavier McKinney and Adoree’ Jackson to better contain all-world wide receiver Justin Jefferson and tight end T.J. Hockenson. 

The 49ers are an entirely different animal. 

So you will be rooting for the 49ers to beat the Cardinals in the regular-season finale Sunday and hold on to the No. 2 seed. 

You will be rooting for the Vikings to be the 3 seed. Skol! 

Here’s why: 

Minnesota’s offensive line is in dire straits after losing RT Brian O’Neil (calf) Sunday against the Packers. Center Garrett Bradbury (back) has missed the last four games. Backup Austin Schlottmann suffered a fibula fracture. LG Ezra Cleveland and rookie RG Ed Ingram are subpar pass blockers (Wink, Wink). A recipe for disaster against Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams. And Kayvon Thibodeaux is coming on strong and bookend Azeez Ojulari is chipping off the rust after returning from his calf injury Week 13 against the Commanders. If you can affect Kirk Cousins, you can disrupt Jefferson … and vice versa. 

Kevin O’Connell, like Brian Daboll, is a rookie head coach, albeit not nearly as experienced. 

The Packers, in a 41-17 thrashing Sunday, limited Jefferson to one catch for 15 yards. 

“They just played a lot of high coverage, they had the safety on my side for the majority of the game, played a lot of two-man,” Jefferson said (Wink, Wink). 

Only the Lions’ defense is ranked behind the Vikings’ (396.8 yards per game). And only the Bears have surrendered more points per game than the Vikings (25.9). And only the Titans have allowed more passing yards per game than the Vikings (273.4). Danielle Hunter and Za’Darius Smith can rush the passer, but defensive coordinator Ed Donatell has drawn criticism for his off coverage. He is the anti-Wink Martindale when it comes to blitzing. These are no Purple People Eaters. 

Joe Montana doesn’t play quarterback for the 49ers. Steve Young doesn’t play quarterback for the 49ers. Jimmy Garoppolo doesn’t play quarterback for the 49ers. 

Brock Purdy plays quarterback for the 49ers. 

And it doesn’t seem to matter. 

The 49ers are a machine. 

They have won nine consecutive games, and Purdy has won five of them and led an offense that has scored 33 points or more four times. 

Mr. Relevant indeed. 

And Deebo Samuel (knee, ankle) has missed the last three games. But his return is imminent. 

The bigger problem: 

That suffocating defense. 

Nick Bosa is the slam dunk Defensive Player of Year. And then there’s Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw and Arik Armstead and Talanua Huganga and Charvarius Ward. 

Defensive coordinator Demeco Ryans is a head coach-in-waiting. 

Now, you will ask if Jarrett Stidham and Josh Jacobs and the Raiders can score 34 points on the Niners’ defense, can’t Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley and the Giants? If Stidham can rush for 34 yards, can’t Jones? You better believe that Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will be going to school on that tape if the Giants draw San Francisco. 

Consider it an aberration. Better to look at the 49ers defense’s points per game allowed in the previous eight games: 20 on Christmas Eve, 13, 7, 17, 0, 10, 16, 14. 

“A lot to get better on, but I think we needed this as a defense,” Bosa said of their performance against the Raiders. 

Kyle Shanahan is an elite play-caller, and the trade for elite weapon Christian McCaffrey to join Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle was a game-changer. 

The 49ers play with a physicality unknown to mankind (as Jim Harbaugh might say) on both sides of the ball. 

In their last meeting on Sept. 27, 2020, the Nick Mullens 49ers dominated the Giants 36-9 at MetLife Stadium. Jones was 17 of 32 for 179 yards and 1 TD with 49 yards rushing. But he didn’t have Daboll, and he didn’t have Barkley, and Darius Slayton is the only wide receiver left from that game. 

Jones passed for 334 yards against the Vikings and has further improved his chemistry with TD machine Isaiah Hodgins and Richie James. 

The Giants left Minneapolis believing that they beat themselves more than the Vikings beat them: a Daniel Bellinger fumble, a Jones interception, a blocked punt, a third-down drop by James. It took a walk-off 61-yard field goal by Greg Joseph to beat them. 

Again, for what it’s worth, the Vikings have never won a Super Bowl championship. The 49ers have won five. 

So if you are a Giants fan today, you say: 

Bring on the Vikings! Please.