NY Giants (0-1) at Dallas (0-1)
When: Sunday, September 16th 2018
Where: AT&T Stadium,
Dallas, Texas
Time: 8:20 ET | TV: NBC
Opening Odds: Dallas -3/43.5
If the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys want to compete in this year’s NFC East race, they better not get off to an 0-2 start. That’s exactly where the loser of this Sunday Night Football battle will be if they don’t get their respective offenses moving. New York dropped a 20-15 decision to the defensive-minded Jacksonville Jaguars last week, while the Cowboys offense was putrid in a 16-8 loss at Carolina. Dallas’s two offensive weapons – quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott – didn’t play hardly at all in the preseason, and it showed in Week 1. Prescott and the Cowboys swept the season series in 2017 and the third-year quarterback threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns in the last meeting. This will be the first of many meetings between Elliott, the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, and New York’s Saquon Barkley, this year’s No. 2 overall selection. The Cowboys have not been very good over the last several years as a home favorite in their spacious AT&T Stadium, posting a 7-18 record against the spread in that situation.
Despite scoring just 15 points against the Jaguars, New York’s playmakers made their mark including Barkley, who finished with 106 yards on 18 carries in his NFL debut and scored the Giants’ lone touchdown with a highlight-reel 68-yard run. Wideout Odell Beckham, Jr., who missed most of last season due to a broken foot, had 11 receptions for 111 yards. Beckham has five touchdown receptions in six games against Dallas, while Eli Manning has 49 career scoring strikes against Dallas, his second-highest total versus any team (51, Philadelphia). Manning was not sharp in the two matchups last season with Dallas, throwing three interceptions. New York’s defense struggled to contain Jacksonville’s ground game last week, but has done well in the past stopping Elliott.
Dallas was awful last week on offense, scoring their only touchdown in the fourth quarter and collecting just 232 yards of total offense and allowing Prescott to be sacked six times. Elliott scored the only touchdown and finished with 69 yards on 15 carries. The Cowboys’ passing game struggled with the departures of longtime standouts Dez Bryant and tight end Jason Witten as Prescott threw for only 170 yards, with Cole Beasley leading the way with seven receptions for 73 yards. The defense played strong, but could be without defensive end Randy Gregory (concussion) and defensive tackle Datone Jones (knee) on Sunday night.
This Dallas offense is really not good and the defense will start suffering if the Cowboys can’t control the clock more and extend their drives. The Cowboys are not a good home team against the number either, covering just 36% of their games in the past six seasons. Look for Barkley to have another big game and Eli to find Beckham in the end zone again. I like New York to win outright.
Pick: Giants +3
Betting Trends:
- Giants are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS loss.
- Giants are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road games vs. a team with a losing home record.
- Giants are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games on fieldturf.
- Giants are 2-5 ATS vs. a team with a losing record.
- Giants are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 vs. NFC.
- Giants are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games in September.
- Giants are 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games in Week 2.
- Cowboys are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. NFC East.
- Cowboys are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games in Week 2.
- Cowboys are 7-2-1 ATS vs. a team with a losing record.
- Cowboys are 11-24-1 ATS in their last 36 games on fieldturf.
- Cowboys are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 home games.
- Cowboys are 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 games after accumulating less than 150 yards passing in their previous game.
- Cowboys are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games after allowing less than 150 yards passing in their previous game.
- Cowboys are 2-6-1 ATS in their last 9 games after scoring less than 15 points in their previous game.
- Under is 4-0 in Giants last 4 vs. a team with a losing record.
- Under is 4-0 in Giants last 4 games in Week 2.
- Under is 7-1 in Giants last 8 games overall.
- Under is 6-1 in Giants last 7 games following a straight up loss.
- Under is 4-1 in Giants last 5 road games.
- Under is 4-1 in Giants last 5 games on fieldturf.
- Under is 4-1 in Giants last 5 vs. NFC.
- Under is 4-1 in Giants last 5 games following a ATS loss.
- Under is 5-2 in Giants last 7 games in September.
- Under is 5-2 in Giants last 7 vs. NFC East.
- Under is 5-0 in Cowboys last 5 games overall.
- Under is 4-0 in Cowboys last 4 games after accumulating less than 150 yards passing in their previous game.
- Under is 4-0 in Cowboys last 4 vs. NFC.
- Over is 7-1 in Cowboys last 8 home games vs. a team with a losing road record.
- Under is 5-1 in Cowboys last 6 games on fieldturf.
- Under is 4-1 in Cowboys last 5 home games.
- Under is 4-1 in Cowboys last 5 games following a straight up loss.
- Under is 4-1 in Cowboys last 5 games following a ATS loss.
- Under is 4-1 in Cowboys last 5 games after scoring less than 15 points in their previous game.
- Under is 6-2 in Cowboys last 8 vs. a team with a losing record.
- Under is 6-2 in Cowboys last 8 vs. NFC East.
- Under is 33-16-1 in Cowboys last 50 games after accumulating less than 250 total yards in their previous game.
- Under is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
- Over is 7-2 in the last 9 meetings in Dallas.
- Giants are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 meetings.
