Just a few short days ago, the Giants were set to battle the Lions at home in a game the sportsbooks pegged the G-Men to take, and the Cowboys were at Minnesota in a game the books thought would be a dogfight.
Well, fast forward a few days and the Giants were flatter than week-old seltzer against Detroit and the Cowboys manhandled the Vikings. All of a sudden, the Thanksgiving Day Giants-Cowboys tilt went from “Hey, these two teams are pretty evenly matched” to “Looks like there’s a blowout in the making.”
Of course, the game is played on the field any given Sunday — or in this case, Thursday — and all that, but still, it’s really no surprise the Cowboys are as much as 9.5-point favorites over the visiting Giants Thursday. For Giants bettors, PointsBet is the place to go, with a -107 price for those 9.5 points. At Prophet Exchange, the Giants are only getting 8.5 points, but at even money.
The moneyline situation is great — if you like betting longshots. Best bang for the buck is over at PlayUp, where the Giants are +340 to upset the Cowboys.
The over/under is set at 44.5, with the over at -110 across the board, but the under at -105 at PointsBet.
Clearly, the oddsmakers are expecting a relatively low-scoring game, with the Cowboys and their second-ranked defense (by Football Outsiders DVOA) primed to handle the stuttering Giants offense.
For the Giants to have a shot here, it will almost certainly come via the ground game, where the Cowboys defense isn’t as strong. That’s probably for the best, as the Giants’ passing game is in tatters.
But to give some semblance of how the oddsmakers are viewing this game, know this: Saquon Barkley’s rushing yardage prop was 100.5 last week; this week, it’s down to 75.5, with bet365 offering the best price at -110.
Meanwhile, Daniel Jones’ rushing yardage prop isn’t all that far behind at bet365, at 40.5.
On the receiving front, Darius Slayton — aka pretty much the only fully ambulatory Giants receiver west of the Hudson River — is the only one with a yardage prop, and it’s at a modest 47.5.
Predictably, Jones’ passing yardage prop — look away! — is low, set at 193.5.
Clearly, the odds are stacked against the Giants this week at JerryWorld, but if there’s one lesson to be learned from the NFL, it’s that anything can happen. Perhaps a Thanksgiving miracle might be in the offing.
Photo: Chris Pedota/USA TODAY Networkl