Broncos vs Giants Betting Preview - 2021 NFL Expert Analysis

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Teddy Bridgewater will make his Denver Broncos starting quarterback debut on Sunday when Denver visits the New York Giants in a matchup between teams that had losing records in 2020 but could be playoff teams this year. The Broncos are short favorites on the NFL odds.

NFL Betting Preview for Denver Broncos vs New York Giants

How to Bet Broncos at Giants NFL Odds & TV Info

When: Sunday, 4:25 PM ET
Where: MetLife Stadium
TV: Fox
Radio: http://www.siriusxm.com/nfl
Stream Option: NFLSUNDAYTICKET.TV
Opening NFL Lines: Broncos -3 (total 41.5)

Series History

The Giants are 7-6 all-time against the Broncos, with the last meeting coming in Week 6 of the 2017 season. Evan Engram caught five passes for 82 yards and a touchdown in the game, while the defense caused three turnovers, leading the Giants to a 23-10 win.

Why Bet on Denver?

Denver is looking for its first season-opening win since 2018 in its first road game against the Giants since the 2013 campaign. The Broncos have compiled a 39-21-1 (.639) all-time opening-game record to tie for the best winning percentage in the NFL.

Teddy Bridgewater beat out Drew Lock for the starting QB job in training camp/preseason. The Broncos acquired quarterback Bridgewater in a trade with the Carolina Panthers. An eight-year pro, Bridgewater ranks fourth in completion percentage (66.5%) among active quarterbacks with at least 1,000 passing attempts since 2014. He’s an amazing 21-3 ATS in his career in road games.

Top tight end Noah Fant is a bit banged up but expected to play. Fant recorded the eighth-most receptions (62) by a Broncos tight end in a single season in 2020. In his first NFL season in 2020, wide receiver Jerry Jeudy totaled the second-most receptions (52) and receiving yards (856) ever by a Broncos rookie.

Defensively, the Broncos should be excellent under defensive-minded head coach Vic Fangio. The Broncos are the first team since red zone statistics began being tracked in 1995 to lead the league in red zone defense in consecutive seasons (2019- 20). Under Fangio the last two years, Denver has allowed a touchdown on only 47 of 107 (43.9%) opponent red zone trips. After missing all of 2020 with an injury, outside linebacker Von Miller is healthy. He was the seventh-fastest player to reach 100 regular season sacks in NFL history. Despite finishing with only eight sacks in 15 games in 2019, he still finished with 83 pressures, which was the eighth in the NFL.

Fellow pass-rusher Bradley Chubb was briefly detained in Douglas County (Colorado) Tuesday due to an outstanding warrant issued for a failure to appear in court for traffic violations. Chubb had offseason ankle surgery in May and had been held out of practice last week after Broncos coach Vic Fangio said Chubb “tweaked” his other ankle, but he’s expected to play after practicing on a limited basis Thursday.

Chubb rebounded in 2020 with 7.5 sacks, 19 quarterback hits and PFF tracked him with 61 total pressures. For players like Chubb and Miller, who are working to return from lingering injuries, Fangio said Wednesday that he will have to manage their playing time over the course of a game.

“A lot of that is determined by how long the drives are that you’re out there for,” Fangio said. “So if they have some long drives on us, it’ll be managed throughout that. And then Von will still have to be managed too.”

Why Bet on NY Giants?

The Giants look to win their first Week 1 game since 2016 and their first season opening home game since 2010.

The Giants should have top running back Saquon Barkley after he tore his ACL in Week 2 last year as well as receivers Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney after both missed most of camp and all of the preseason. Barkley enters 2021 with 3,563 yards from scrimmage, ranking second behind Odell Beckham Jr. (4,169) for the most yards from scrimmage by a Giants player in their first three seasons with the team.

Coach Joe Judge was asked if it’s realistic for Toney, the No. 20 overall pick in this year’s draft, to have a significant role as a wide receiver or kickoff returner against Denver. He played in 38 games with 13 starts in four seasons at the University of Florida, where he caught 120 passes for 1,590 yards (13.2-yard avg.) and 12 touchdowns and rushed for 580 yards and two touchdowns on 66 carries.

“I’d say in terms of significant, I look at that not so much as volume, but production,” Judge said. “I’d say it is realistic for him to have a significant role. We’re seeing his health improve, we’ve seen him do a lot of things with the team as we’ve kept on moving. I’d say for a player who hasn’t seen obviously preseason games or a lot of significant time volume-wise on the field with the guys through preseason, he’s been able to go out there and manage it and execute in practice what we’ve asked him to.”

However, tight end Evan Engram is in doubt with a calf injury. Kyle Rudolph, who is managing a foot injury of his own but is expected to play Sunday, looks poised to handle the bulk of the tight end reps sans Engram, who has caught at least 40 passes in each season since entering the NFL in 2017. With another 40 receptions in 2021, Engram will become the sixth tight end in NFL history to do so in each of his first five years

Graham Gano converted 32-of-33 field goals (96.9 percent) in 2020, including each of his last 30. Gano’s streak is the longest in franchise history and the longest active streak in the NFL.