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The Week 2 NFL betting schedule opens with an NFC East confrontation between the New York Giants and Washington Football Team on Thursday night. It looks like the FitzMagic has run out in Washington before it even got started. The team formerly known as the Redskins lost their starting QB to a hip injury in the first half of the opener. I guess we can now start the speculation of Cam Newton reuniting with his former coach in Carolina Ron Rivera. For now the Football Team will ride with Taylor Heinicke as they look to end a five-game losing streak to the G-Men.
New York Giants at Washington Football Team
Date and Time: Thursday, September 16, 2021, 8:20 p.m. ET
Location: FedEx Field, Landover, MD
Opening NFL Odds: Washington -4, O/U 43.5
Giants at Football Team TV Coverage: NFL Network
Odds Analysis
There are factors that impact a line and this game has some. The injury to Fitzpatrick had some folks buying the Giants pushing the line from WFT -4 to -3. Poor offensive play on both sides last week also impacted the total. The number hit the board at 43.5 and was quickly wagered down to 41. The Giants were one of the worst offensive clubs last season and things didn’t look better last week. They scored 13 points with six of them coming on the game’s final play. They also cashed the UNDER for a ninth straight game. Washington won the division last year but they couldn’t beat the Giants, dropping both games by a combined four points. New York has won the last five meetings going 4-1 ATS.
New York Giants
When the offense sucks and the defense isn’t much better you’re not going to win many games. The Giants are counting on the triumphant return of Saquon Barkley to bolster the group. He played last week for the first time since a devastating knee injury rushing for 26 yards on 10 carries. Don’t expect him to get more touches on Thursday with a short turnaround. The ground game hung Daniel Jones out to dry and it was an all too familiar showing.
Jones threw for 267 yards and led the team with 27 rushing yards. But a costly red zone turnover when trailing 20-7 in the third quarter thwarted a drive. They were able to move the football in the second half, which was encouraging, but giving the ball up twice on downs and Jones’ fumble hurt their chances. “It’s plays, we can make the plays. We got people on the team that can make them. We got everything we need, it’s just about doing it,” Jones said.
The defense needs to be almost perfect to make up for the inability of the offense to score. That’s a lot of pressure on a group searching for an identity. They didn’t play poorly, but they couldn’t get off the field with Denver possessing the ball for over 35 minutes. They also allowed six drives of 50 yards or more while allowing Denver to convert all three fourth-down chances.
Washington Football Team
Having a starting quarterback get injured is nothing new for the Football Team. Alex Smith went down a few years ago and RGIII was never the same after getting hurt. Fitzpatrick’s first start with the club lasted less than a half when a hip injury forced him out. He’s expected to miss 6-8 weeks. That leaves Heinicke in charge with Kyle Allen as his backup, unless the team makes a move before Thursday.
Heinicke was effective in relief last week throwing for 122 yards and a touchdown on 11 of 15 passing. His last start was in last year’s playoff loss to Tampa Bay when he connected on 26 of 44 attempts for 306 yards with a TD. We could see Washington lean on a ground game that produced almost half of the team’s yards. And it’s probably not a bad game plan since the Giants allowed 165 rushing yards to Denver. Antonio Gibson ran for 90 of the team’s 126 yards and had three catches for 18 yards.
One of the better defenses in the NFL last season didn’t do its job on Sunday. They allowed only 20 points, but failed to get stops allowing the Chargers to convert 14 of 19 third downs. The group spent over 36 minutes on the field and was gassed at the end when the Bolts ran out the final 6:43 while nursing a 20-16 advantage. The Giants averaged only 17.5 points last season but hit the 20-point mark in both games against Washington.
Bet Giants at Football Team at BookMaker.eu
I don’t see a lot of scoring in this game so backing the underdog with a field goal looks like a good bet. For some reason the Giants have Washington’s number and I’m not convinced Heinicke is the answer which has me leaning toward the G-Men for the outright and the UNDER.
NFL Score Prediction: Giants 19, Football Team 17
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- Phil Simon, Gambling911.com
