Wednesday Night NFL Line on the Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants at -4
Carrie Stroup here with your Wednesday night NFL line for the Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants game, which has the Giants at -4 after opening at -3. These and all other Week 1 NFL betting odds can be found at Sportsbook.com, which is currently offering a $250 signup bonus for qualified new customers.
Sportsbook.ag Line & Total: New York -4 & 45
Opening Line & Total: Giants -3 (-120) & 47
The 2012 NFL season gets underway on Wednesday night in New Jersey when the defending Super Bowl champion Giants host the rival Cowboys.
Although New York has a slight 21-20 edge in the overall series since 1992, the Giants have prevailed in five of the past six meetings. Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning has thrown for 333 passing YPG, 15 TD and 7 INT in this six-game stretch. However, Cowboys QB Tony Romo has also kept these matchups high-scoring, throwing for 234 passing YPG, 11 TD and 4 INT in five games during this string. Despite the tendency for both teams to throw the pigskin, the winner of this matchup could be determined on the ground. Although Dallas has rushed for a mere 75 YPG in its past five meetings in this series, New York was the NFL’s worst rushing offense in both yards (89 YPG) and yards per carry (3.5) last season. The Cowboys have a much more dire injury report than the Giants do, as four key Dallas players are all questionable to play on Wednesday -- WR Miles Austin (hamstring), TE Jason Witten (spleen), G Phil Costa (back) and NT Jay Ratliff (ankle). Also, Tom Coughlin is 20-10 ATS in the first month of the season as Giants head coach.
Dallas brings in new offensive coordinator Bill Callahan, but he’s isn’t going to drastically alter this offense. Romo is coming off an excellent season, posting a career-best 102.5 QB rating with 4,184 passing yards, 31 TD and 10 INT. He has also thrived playing on the road in this series, completing 90-of-120 passes for 928 yards, 9 TD and 2 INT in his past three games at New York. If Witten and Austin aren’t close to 100 percent, Romo will need Dez Bryant to step up. Bryant had a great sophomore season in the NFL last year, catching 63 passes for 928 yards and 9 TD. But Dallas needs to establish its running game to keep the Giants fearsome front four at bay. DeMarco Murray proved he was worthy of the Cowboys starting RB job last season, rushing for 897 yards on 5.5 YPC, but had just five carries against New York last season, gaining 25 yards in limited duty. OLB DeMarcus Ware led the Dallas defense last year, piling up 19.5 sacks (2nd in NFL), and also helped the run-stop unit place seventh in the league in rushing defense (99 YPG).
Manning had arguably his best season in 2011, finishing with a career-high 4,933 passing yards, while throwing 29 TD and 16 INT. Top WR Hakeem Nicks has been battling through a foot injury in the preseason, but he will play on Wednesday. Nicks had 239 of his 1,192 receiving yards against Dallas last year. Slot man Victor Cruz busted out for 1,536 receiving yards in 2012, capping off his regular season with a 178-yard performance against Dallas. RB Ahmad Bradshaw didn’t have a great 2011 season (3.9 YPC), which is why the team drafted rookie RB David Wilson in the first round to help ease Bradshaw’s workload. Although the Giants offense is intact from a health standpoint, the defense will be missing its top two cornerbacks, Prince Amukamara (ankle), and Terrell Thomas (ACL), who is out for the season. However, the league’s most formidable front four returns, led by Jason Pierre-Paul (16.5 sacks, 4th in NFL) who had 13 tackles and three sacks in the two meetings with Dallas last year.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
