Redskins Giants Odds
Posted by Steve Janus - Google+
The Washington Redskins will host the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. New York was able to rally past Washington for a 27-23 win at home back in Week 7. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 EST at FedEx Field and will be televised nationally on ESPN. Oddsmakers currently have the Giants favored by 2.5-points with the total set at 51 points.
Why New York Will Cover:
The Giants returned from their bye week and quickly quieted the critics with an impressive 38-10 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. New York had lost two straight prior to that blowout win at home and were hearing it from the media on their poor play. The Giants improved to 7-4 overall and are a full two games ahead of the Cowboys and Redskins in the NFC East.
While Eli Manning got back on track, it was the defensive front that allowed New York to completely dominate the Packers this past weekend. The Giants sacked Aaron Rodgers five times and held the reigning MVP to just 219 yards and one touchdown on 14 of 25 passing.
When the defensive line decides to impose their will on opposing offensive lines, this Giants team is extremely difficult to beat. The only problem is they don’t show up with the same intensity every week. With this game being played on Monday Night Football, you would have to believe they are going to bring their best effort against the Redskins. The Giants defense will also be out to send a message to rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III after he tormented the Giants in that first game. Griffin III threw for 258 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another 89 yards on nine attempts.
While the Giants got embarrassed on the road in their most recent visit to Cincinnati 13-31, this team typically plays some of its best football away from home. New York had opened the season 3-0 on the road prior to that loss to the Bengals and that included a blowout win over the Panthers (36-7) on Thursday Night Football and a dominant 26-3 win at San Francisco.
New York is 9-2 ATS in games where the line is +3 to -3 over the last two seasons and are a perfect 6-0 ATS in road games following a home win over the past two seasons. Washington on the other hand is just 2-9 ATS after playing their last game on the road.
Why Washington Will Cover:
The Redskins have got themselves back into the playoff picture with back-to-back wins over division rivals Philadelphia and Dallas. Washington followed up a 31-6 win over the Eagles with a 38-31 victory over the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. That final against the Cowboys is a bit misleading, as the Redskins built a 28-3 halftime lead and really had control of the game the entire way. The key thing about both of these two wins is that the came after the Redskins bye week. It appears this team has fixed a lot of their problems during that extra week off and there’s little reason to believe they won’t continue to play at this level over the final four weeks of the season.
The Redskins put together a furious rally in that first game against the Giants. Washington trailed 13-20 with just under 13 minutes left in regulation, but would take a 23-20 lead with just 1:32 left to play. Unfortunately for the Redskins they would give up a 77-yard touchdown pass to let the Giants escape with a win.
While the Redskins ended up losing the game, they gained a lot of confidence in that game against the Giants. Washington outgained New York 480 to 393 in total yards, as they finished with over 200 yards on the ground and through the air. Washington’s defense also played well outside of that lapse in the final minutes of regulation. They held the Giants to just 64 yards rushing and intercepted Manning twice. Had the offense not turned the ball over four times they likely would have won that game.
The Giants are known for struggling in the months of November and December and one win against the Packers doesn’t right the ship. New York is just 27-48 ATS over their last 75 games during weeks 10 through 13. The biggest thing that points to a Redskins being able to cover the number is head coach Mike Shanahan, who is 13-4 ATS in home games when revenging a same season loss against an opponent and 22-9 ATS revenging a close loss (7pts or less) to an opponent (not necessarily the same season).
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