New York Giants vs Washington Football Team Preview: NFC East Rivals Seeking First Win Meet on TNF

Tonight’s Thursday Night Football matchup sees NFC East rivals duke it out, as the Washington Football Team hosts the New York Giants. Both of these teams took home losses to start the season last week. Starting 0-2 is going to put a crimp in whatever plans these franchises had for the season. If there is a positive to take from Week 1, it is that the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL betting odds favorite to win the NFC East, didn’t win their opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New York Giants (0-1) vs Washington Football Team (0-1), NFL Network, 8:20 p.m. ET

New York Giants vs Washington Football Team NFL Betting Odds

Moneyline

• New York Giants +143
• Washington Football Team -175

Total

• OVER 40.5 (-110)
• UNDER 40.5 (-110)

Spread

• New York Giants +3 (-110)
• Washington Football Team -3 (-110)

New York Giants vs Washington Football Team Odds odds are via BetOnline Sportsbook as of Thursday, September 16, 2021 at 11:47 a.m. ET. Want to see betting odds from several top online sportsbooks for the day’s other NFL matchups? Check out our NFL odds.

New York Giants vs Washington Football Team NFL Betting Consensus

Moneyline

• 33% New York Giants
• 67% Washington Football Team

Total

• 67% OVER 41
• 33% UNDER 41

Spread

• 33 %New York Giants
• 67% Washington Football Team

New York Giants vs Washington Football Team Raiders Betting Outlook

The Giants opened their season with a 27-13 loss to the Denver Broncos last Sunday. It is hard to find many positives from the game, but I guess it was positive that QB Daniel Jones wasn’t terrible. He did not throw an interception, and he even rushed for a TD.

But the Giants could not get the ground game going at all though. Saquon Barkley rushed for just 26 yards on 10 carries. The Broncos have a very strong defense, so we will have to see if that was it or whether the Giants are going to struggle with that all season.

On defense the Giants were awful. Teddy Bridgewater barely beat out Drew Lock for the starting quarterback job in Denver, but he was very effective on Sunday. Also, they gave up a 70-yard run to Melvin Gordon. New York’s offense is not nearly good enough for the defense to be as bad as it was on Sunday. Denver outgained them by more than 100 yards.

Washington’s Best Laid Plans Derailed

The plan for this season was to rely on one of the game’s best defenses and for QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to juice up a staid offense. That lasted about a half as Fitzmagic got hurt in the opener. Taylor Heinicke came in and was effective, but the whole point of the move at QB was to be more explosive. They only had one play over 30 yards for the game, and it is tough to win when you have to sustain long drives. All it takes is one mistake and it all falls apart.

On defense, Washington did a solid job against the run, but Chargers QB Justin Herbert was able to have a good day through the air. That is nothing new. The concerning part is that they were not able to pressure him much. Washington’s defense is supposed to be strong in that area. It is just one game and the Chargers did improve their offensive line in the offseason. That is something to watch for though. This Washington team needs an elite defense to win.

NFL Betting Trends to Consider for New York Giants vs. Washington Football Team

• The Giants are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 vs the NFC East.
• The Giants are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 vs the NFC, and they are also 6-1 ATS in their last 7 road games vs a team with a losing home record.
• Washington Football Team are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games after accumulating less than 150 yards passing in their previous game and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing more than 350 total yards in their previous game.
• Washington is 5-11 ATS in their last 16 games against the NFC East.

New York Giants vs Washington Football Team Best Bets

Washington Football Team -3.5

No matter who wins this one it is not going to be pretty. It sucks that Washington lost its starting QB already but this is still a matchup they can win with defense. The line opened at -4 and now we are down to -3 so Washington is the play. Heinicke is playable against a team like the Giants where they shouldn’t need a lot of points to get the win. In this game, neither offense might reach the end zone. The Giants won both games a year ago and both were close. Washington should get some revenge in this one.

Prop watch: New York Giants Total Points Under 18.5

The Giants scored 23 and 20 points in the two games against Washington a year ago. This total is below that, but Washington allowed only 20 points last week to a much better Chargers offense, an offense that is one of the league’s better passing offenses. The Giants don’t have that, and the Washington Football Team is going to make life very difficult for Daniel Jones tonight. They are going to be more pumped and desperate for this one too.

Score Prediction:

Washington Football Team 23, New York Giants 16