Are the Giants a safe bet in Week 17?

Cowboys Are Favorites in NFL Odds Against Giants on Sunday Night

Written by on September 8, 2017

The Dallas Cowboys are America’s Team so it should surprise no one that they are featured on the first Sunday night game of the season. And of course it comes against America’s biggest media market team, the NFC East rival Giants. The Cowboys await the Giants as betting favorites, but the NFL odds have favored New York in their last encounters. Will it be the same this year?

NY Giants at Dallas NFL Week 1 Odds, Analysis & Pick

When: Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET Where: AT&T Stadium TV: NBC Radio: WFAN 660 AM (NY) / 103.5 FM The Fan (Dallas) Stream Option: NBCSports.com Opening NFL Odds: Cowboys -4 (47.5)

Weather Forecast

  • Clear: 27°C/81°F
  • Humidity: 42%
  • Precipitation: 0%
  • Wind: 6 mph NE
  • Cloud Cover: 0%
  • Type of Stadium: Retractable

Why Bet On NY Giants?

New York was the only team to beat Dallas twice last year, although both games were very close. The big question here is whether Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. plays. Beckham (ankle) hadn’t practiced as of Thursday since spraining his ankle in the Giants’ second preseason game. On Thursday, Beckham followed a similar routine as Wednesday, warming up with the team in full pads and then working to the side of practice with a trainer. Asked if he would play Week 1, the receiver said he “wouldn’t count it out.” He could be a game-time decision. The Giants obviously need him but don’t want to risk long-term injury. Coach Ben McAdoo said Beckham does not have to practice to play in the game. “If Odell is cleared to play medically, we’ll play him,” McAdoo said. “If he’s not, we won’t.” Beckham said what he misses by sitting out practice are “reps.” But it’s not as if he’s new to the offense, or a stranger to the teammate who throws him passes. Beckham last missed a game on Dec. 27, 2015 when he served a one-game NFL suspension when the Giants were in Minnesota. He has not been forced out of uniform because of injury since the first four games of his career in 2014, when he had a strained hamstring. Last year, he played in every game for the first time in his career.

NFL Week 1 Over/Under Picks and Winning Favorites

How Well Has Prescott Done Against the Giants?

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, the 2016 Offensive Rookie of the Year, had a 58.6 passer rating in two games against the Giants last season. Overall, Prescott finished with a 104.9 passer rating in 16 games, trailing only Matt Ryan and Tom Brady, the two starting quarterbacks in Super Bowl LI. Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant was held to 18 yards in two meetings with the Giants last season, thanks largely to the play of Pro Bowl cornerback Janoris Jenkins, who forced a fumble on one of the two receptions. Eli Manning has passed for 6,226 yards in his career against the Cowboys in the regular season, the most ever by a Dallas opponent. Phil Simms is second with 4,804 yards.

Why Bet On Dallas?

The Giants and Cowboys have gone head-to-head 12 times on “Sunday Night Football” over the years, with each team winning six of those games. Last season, the Cowboys won the NFC East title as well as the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a 13-3 record. That included an 11-game winning streak, which was bookended by losses to  the Giants, who swept the Cowboys for the first time since 2011. There has not been a repeat champion in the NFC East since the Eagles claimed four division titles in a row from 2001-2004. The big news for Dallas is that Ezekiel Elliott will play even though his six-game suspension was upheld on Tuesday. In a temporary restraining order hearing in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, NFL attorneys acknowledged that, because of the timing of Harold Henderson’s decision to uphold Elliott’s suspension for violating the personal conduct policy, Elliott will be able to play Week 1. Are the Cowboys a safe bet in the NFL odds for Week 1?

How Well Did Elliot Do Last Season?

Elliott, who led the NFL with 1,631 rushing yards as a rookie in 2016, theoretically would then sit out the following six games. But that could be decided in the US courts. If the TRO is not granted and Elliott does not take the case further in the legal system, then the first game Elliott would be eligible to play would be Nov. 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Giants faced Elliott twice last season. In his NFL debut on Sept. 11, he ran for 51 yards on 20 carries. Three months later, he rushed for 107 yards on 24 attempts, but was limited to 21 yards on nine second-half carries. Chaz Green has won the Cowboy’ starting left guard job. Jonathan Cooper is the backup. Green is a former third-round pick who has appeared in just four career games due to a multitude of injuries. He’s replacing Ronald Leary, who left for Denver, and La’El Collins is at right tackle. Dallas is without injured linebacker Anthony Hitchens, who will miss about half the season.

Series History

  • Total Meetings: 110
  • First Meeting: December 4th, 1960. Yankee Stadium. Bronx, New York
  • Last Meeting: December 11th, 2016. MetLife Stadium. East Rutherford, New Jersey
  • All-Time Series: Dallas 62-46-2
  • Largest Margin of Victory: Dallas 57-7 (1966)
  • Longest Win Streak: Dallas 12 (1974-1980)
  • Current Win Streak: NY Giants 3 (2015-2016)

Latest  NFL Odds Trends

  • NY Giants is 8-4 ATS in the last 12 games
  • NY Giants is 9-3 SU in the last 12 games
  • The total went UNDER in 7 of NY Giants’s last 9 games
  • Dallas is 1-6 ATS in the last 7 games
  • Dallas is 13-3 SU in the last 16 games
  • The total went UNDER in 4 of Dallas’s last 6 games

Expert NFL Odds Prediction

Wait on Beckham here. If he plays, I’d take the points. If not, then take Dallas in the NFL odds.