New York Giants Open as 1.5 Underdogs at Home vs. Arizona Cardinals | Breaking It Down
What do the Giants need to do to get some respect from the oddsmakers?
Seriously, the Giants, winners of four in a row including one game without starting quarterback Daniel Jones at the helm, open up this week as a 1.5 underdog (this as of Wednesday night's listing) against an Arizona Cardinals team that has lost three in a row and four of their last five games since coming out of their Week 8 bye, their 6-2 record morphing into a 6-6 mark.
Money Line: Arizona -125 / Giants +105
Point Spread: Arizona -1.5 (-110) / Giants +1.5 (+110)
Over/Under: 44.5 (Cardinals -115, Giants -106)
In all seriousness, that low point spread likely reflects the uncertainty surrounding Jones’s status for Sunday. The Cardinals have the sixth-best offense in the league and the top red-zone offense, but the ninth-best scoring offense (27.7 points/game).
The Giants, meanwhile, are averaging 19 points per game, 30th in the league, so maybe it does make sense to give the Cardinals the edge in the point spread. (Interestingly, the complete opening odds for this game weren’t made available until after all the Giants video conferences were held, not that it gave the oddsmakers—or any of us for that matter—any clues as to what the Giants plans are at quarterback.)
The Cardinals are 0-5 against the spread in their last five games while the Giants are 5-1 in their last six games. As noted above, the Cardinals offense has had a little better luck with scoring this season, but the Giants defense has been stingy, allowing an average of 22.1 points per game (9th in the NFL) while the Cardinals have allowed 24.7 points per game (14th).
As for the over/under, this one is hard to call because of the uncertainty surrounding Jones' status.
Last week with McCoy under center, the Giants leaned heavily on their running game and their defense in scoring their lowest point total in any of their five wins this season (17 points). But then again, leaning on the running game, which has become the bread and butter of this offense, isn't necessarily a bad thing because it tends to eat up the clock.
I fully expect all these numbers to jump up perhaps as soon as Thursday once it's revealed how much Jones can do in practice.
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