The New York Giants will be playing football next week, that much is certain. They might be doing it in San Francisco if the 49ers lose this week to the Cardinals, but they’re much more likely to be doing so in Minnesota against the Vikings.
Either way, the team has — very literally — nothing to play for this week when it visits the Philadelphia Eagles.
Eagles open as 14-pt. favorites vs. Giants team with nothing to play for.
If Eagles win, they're the 1 seed.
If they lose, Cowboys lose, 49ers lose, Eagles are 1 seed.
If they lose, and Cowboys win, Eagles are 5 seed.
If they lose, Cowboys lose, 49ers win, Eagles are 2 seed.
— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) January 2, 2023
The Eagles, however, have everything to play for. A win gets them the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye, while a loss means they open themselves up to having to play in the wild card round.
So: Eagles, everything; Giants, nothing.
And that’s pretty much how the sportsbooks see it, with the Eagles 14-point favorites over the G-Men this week. Best bet for the Giants is at Caesars at -110.
On the moneyline, the Giants can be had for as much as +675 at DraftKings, and the over/under is set at 43, which is the consensus at -110 at Caesars and virtually everywhere else.
No starters?
These lines certainly would seem to indicate that Brian Daboll will continue to be one of the NFL’s best coaches and place his starters’ butts on the bench. And while this hasn’t been announced as of the time of this writing, it certainly seems like a foregone conclusion. There is zero upside in playing Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, and any number of other key pieces.
The @Giants are as well coached as anyone pic.twitter.com/EMVli7Nfel
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) January 2, 2023
Predictably, player props have yet to be posted, so there’s little to discuss there.
Honestly, the most likely scenario in this game is the Eagles jump out to a quick lead and both teams end up running dive plays the rest of the way. Once the Eagles get a lead, they’re also probably going to want to rest their players.
Well, maybe these two teams will meet again in the playoffs. Then we can make this preview a little juicier.
.@Mark_Sanchez isn't sleeping on the New York Giants
"They're going to shock somebody… Those guys will ruin someone's playoff hopes." pic.twitter.com/UtxFwosNgq
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 4, 2023
In the meantime, Giants fans, enjoy the “week off” – and hope Daboll keeps his key players on the pine.
Photo: Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAYÂ
