NY Giants Open as Week 8 Underdogs vs. Philadelphia Eagles

While the lasting remnants of the New York Giants' brutal collapse in their 33-32 loss to the Denver Broncos are still hanging around in parts of the organization and fanbase, there were a lot of positives to take away from a game where the Giants hung around with one of the best all-around teams in the NFL.

Don't expect the oddsmakers to hand the Giants any credence when their performance still finished in the wrong column of their overall record. Instead, the betting decision-makers are not easing the amount of favorability they are giving the franchise's next opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, this Sunday.

According to FanDuel's opening odds for Week 8, the Giants are slated to travel to the City of Brotherly Love for a rematch with the Eagles as a 7.5-point underdog.

The opening line marks the third straight week where the Giants have been doubted by at least a touchdown against their opponent, the first time coming against the Birds in Week 6.

In that recent meeting, the Giants shocked the football world by routing their NFC East rivals by a 17-point margin to completely flip the spread on its head.

Last Sunday against the Broncos, New York found itself up by as much as 19 points before its fourth-quarter stumble allowed Denver to score 33 points and steal a one-point victory from the jaws of defeat.

Still, the Giants covered the 7.5-point number that opened up Week 7, making one think the oddsmakers would slim down the number ahead of their Philadelphia trip.

Again, that is not the case, and there could be multiple reasons for the sportsbooks' ultimate decision. The one most glaring reason is that the Giants have not won in Philadelphia since October 27, 2013, when Eli Manning and Victor Cruz were still headlining the team's offense and managed to stun the Birds 15-7.

The Giants also haven't defeated the Eagles twice in the same season since the 2007 campaign, when they went on to win the Lombardi Trophy for the third time in franchise history, and Philadelphia will likely be hungry not to let that happen again this year.

The loss to the Giants two weeks ago certainly hit the Eagles hard, and it seems like the oddsmakers believe that they will respond in a big way on their home turf to even the annual series.

In fact, they are entering the rematch off the heels of a dominant 28-22 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, where they scored three touchdowns and had two 100+-yard receivers throttle the defense.

That is some serious momentum to bring back home to Lincoln Financial Field with a divisional rival returning to try to get back in the win column as well. Not to mention the Eagles could also return some important players on both sides of the ball, such as guard Landon Dickerson and cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, who missed the first duel in East Rutherford.

When the Eagles have their full arsenal of talent, they still outrank the Giants in some important categories. On the offensive side, they are 14th in points scored, 15th in passing touchdowns, and the league's best organization when it comes to capping off drives with six points inside the red zone.

Switch over to the defense, which is headlined by their defensive front that can rush the quarterback at the 14th-highest rate in the NFL this season.

Philadelphia holds opponents to an average of 23.5 points per game, which is below the 30+ points that the Giants have enjoyed in consecutive contests after being a mediocre offense in the first several weeks.

They also do a solid job forcing turnovers through the air, with five interceptions on the year, and give offenses a hard time when attempting to convert third and fourth downs or reach their maximum potential inside the 20-yard line, with a 43.5% opponent red zone scoring efficiency allowed.

That said, the Eagles could still be tested by what has become an improved Giants offense under rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, one that has juiced their scoring potential to 25.2 points per game and become a top-10 unit in moving the football on the ground and extending drives with the dual-threat skill set of the novice.

It was the ground game where the Giants torched the Eagles' defense in round one of their biannual regular season series. They notched 172 yards and four touchdowns behind the heroics of Dart and fellow rookie running back Cam Skattebo, who tallied a combined 156 of those yards while seemingly taking the will out of the entire Eagles team in the stunning primetime win.

Should the Giants keep those trends going into Philadelphia while cleaning up their other issues from last Sunday, it could be their calling card to tire out their opponent, keep them on the field longer, and establish a game plan that keeps them in the game and gives them a chance to shock everyone again.

Until proven otherwise, the Giants and their fanbase might be running on hope for this matchup, but they won't be joined by the oddsmakers, who will listen to recent history before they do a thought-shifting victory from two weeks ago.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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