NY Giants Open as Week 17 Underdogs vs Las Vegas Raiders

The New York Giants' season has almost no extra positives to glean from what has been a humiliating stretch of football, one loss away from tying the franchise record for the most defeats in a single season.

That is not the same shared mindset from the betting world, which believes the Giants still have at least some promise in their next game before their season miserably ends in East Rutherford in two weeks.

According to the opening lines from FanDuel in the lead-up to the Week 17 slate, the Giants are 1.5-point underdogs on the road as they make their final visit to the Las Vegas Raiders in the late window of this weekend’s action.

The initial number actually had New York listed as a 2.5-point favorite in Sin City. Still, it quickly shifted back towards the Raiders, who get a slight home-field advantage despite sharing the same record at 2-13 and having been just as inept throughout the season as their opponent.

In addition, the oddsmakers have set the matchup between two dismal franchises, with their eyes on the draft, at a total over/under of 41.5 points. That number marks a second straight week of a two-point drop in the Giants’ games and seems to signify the affair won’t feature a lot of impressive offensive production.

While both teams will say they are still searching to snap their individual losing streaks that have stretched for nearly two months, those observing the faceoff from the outside will be paying a lot more attention to the fallout it will have on the final first-round draft order in April.

The Giants, who currently hold the greatest odds of landing the No. 1 pick after falling to the Minnesota Vikings last week, could all but solidify their position there with a loss. That said, they might be the side with the greater talent, despite their noticeable deficiencies and growing injuries throughout the offense.

As for the Raiders, all of the good feelings behind a preseason reunion between head coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Geno Smith, both of whom spent time together in Seattle, have fizzled out. The Raiders own the NFL’s worst-ranked offense for the first time in nearly two decades and have been outscored by 169 points, which is their worst in the last five seasons.

The lack of a strong passing element has played a large part in that reality, as the Raiders average 173.1 yards per game and often mar themselves with an inclination for turnovers that total 19 on the season. The rushing side hasn’t been pretty either, struggling to move the rock at the 31st per play rate behind a lackluster and shorthanded offensive line.

Dec 14, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby (98) on the field after loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Defensively, the Raiders share many of the same issues as the Giants, most notably their coverage weakness, which has given up 6.4 yards per pass play, and their struggles to force turnovers and get opposing offenses off the field on third downs (ranked dead last in the league).

However, they do boast one of the biggest problems on the edge in the All-Pro defensive end Maxx Crosby, who has been playing within some elite company as one of 11 players with over 10 sacks at his position.

Crosby, who ranks 14th in pass rush win rate among edge defenders this season, has been a relentless pursuer of the quarterback throughout his career, with four seasons of double-digit sacks. He also knows how to disrupt the pass with his big hands, which have registered 26 pass deflections, and could be an active force against a Giants offensive line that is dealing with injuries to several starters.

One area where they’ve shown some improvement is slowing down the run, allowing an average of 116.5 rushing yards per contest and the fourth-lowest average of 3.8 yards per carry. The Raiders held the Houston Texans to 83 total rushing yards last Sunday, but they have been exposed to at least 152 rushing yards in the three games prior, and now face a Giants attack that has been improving.

The last time the Giants and Raiders met was during the 2023 season. That same black-and-silver unit was the difference-maker, sacking the Giants’ quarterbacks eight times while forcing two interceptions that set up a 30-point masterpiece for their offense. Crosby was a critical piece of that dominance with three sacks as the Giants barely earned 200 yards in the air.

This time around, the two teams’ defenses have been a lot more forgiving, and the final result could come down to which group can shut off the faucet and not allow the opposing offense to live in the endzone.

For the players, it’s still about pride and compiling some positive film to wrap up the season before many will have their futures looming in the months ahead. Still, beyond the hashmarks, the game will carry a ton of significance for how both organizations can potentially retool their rosters and advance their rebuilds as they try to return to relevance in the NFL.

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