Panthers vs. Giants Monday Night Football Betting Odds

Carrie Stroup reporting for Gambling911.com with your Panthers vs. Giants Monday Night Football betting odds. 

Tonight's NFL preseason matchup pits the Panthers and Giants in a battle of the teams that had the best regular season records in the NFC last season; currently New York is a 3-point favorite at Sportsbook.com.

The first thing you need to consider about tonight's game is that Carolina has owned New York in the preseason. The Panthers have won five of the six all-time meetings between the teams, both straight up and against the spread. Carolina's offense has scored between 20 & 34 points in all of the last five meetings. The StatFox Game Estimator says the Panthers will score 23 tonight, so look for that nice scoring trend to continue.

Another important factor that you need to know is that in general, Carolina has historically put more stock in preseason success than the Giants. This is important because both teams' head coaches have been around for awhile. Since '93, New York is 12-games under .500 in exhibition games while Carolina is 1-game over .500. In fact, when it comes to facing NFC opponents, the Panthers boast an impressive 11-8 straight up and 13-4 against the spread record.

For the Giants, quarterback Eli Manning, running back Brandon Jacobs, and the rest of the first-string is expected to appear in a limited capacity on Monday night. Backups David Carr, Andre' Woodson and rookie Rhett Bomar (5th Round, Sam Houston State) areexpected to follow the signal-caller in the lineup.

Defensively, all eyes will be on end Osi Umenyiora, who will make his return to the field after missing all of 2008 with a knee injury suffered in the preseason. Umenyiora will head up a defensive group now coordinated by Bill Sheridan, who was elevated from linebackers coach after Steve Spagnuolo took the head position with the St. Louis Rams.

For the Panthers, Jake Delhomme, who last threw six interceptions in the 33-13 playoff loss to Arizona, will start Monday's contest before yielding to reserves Josh McCown and Matt Moore.

Defensively, a familiar-looking Panthers unit will be guided by an unfamiliar face, ex-Colts coordinator Ron Meeks, who takes over for Mike Trgovac.

Finally, don't forget that there are many other wagering options to consider for this Monday night affair than simply the pointspread. The First Half Total has some promise, at least as judged by a powerful FoxSheets Super Situation. The system reads as follows:

• Play Over - Any game where the first half total is 17.5 or less - when playing on Monday night. (28-8 since 1993.) (77.8%, +19.2 units. Rating = 2*).

Tonight's first half total is right around 17. Considering Carolina's preseason scoring trends discussed earlier, this near-80% system looks even better.

Make Sportsbook.com the place for all of you NFL wagering this season. Also, be sure to enter the ‘NFL Getaway' promotion with a chance to attend NFL's opening weekend in the city of your choice.

Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter