NY Giants UNDER 34 vs. New England
NY Giants +3 over NEW ENGLAND
Welcome to the first full week of NFL Preseason play as the New York Giants and the New England Patriots battle at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night. The Giants will be attempting to forget their monumental collapse in the Wild Card game against San Francisco last season as they blew a 24-point lead in the third quarter only to fall 39-38 in the now-infamous "bad snap" contest. New England, which is now a year-and-a-half removed from winning the Super Bowl, will try to the take the first step to reclaiming its glory. The Patriots missed out on the postseason last year, as they finished in a three-way tie at 9-7 with the New York Jets and Miami for the top spot in the rugged AFC East.
This is the third consecutive season that these teams have began the preseason against each other, so it's a familiar practice game for the coaches. Even more importantly, we note that the Giants will return to play the Patriots on October 12 in Week 6 of the regular season. Expect both coaches to play this game close to the vest and not tip their hand as to how they might play the game that really counts in a couple of months.
PRO INFO SPORTS training camp info reveals that the Giants offense has been humming right along with Kerry Collins playing flawlessly at the QB position, so we expect a very solid performance from him tomorrow night, especially when you consider the decimated defense of the Patriots he'll be facing. Again, we aren't looking for Jim Fassel to show much from the real playbook, but he probably won't need to in order to put some points on the board. Most of the Giants starters are expected to play the first quarter, with the second team playing into the third period; however, the distribution of reps at running back should be interesting. Tiki Barber is the starter, but Fassel plans on getting Dorsey Levens and Ron Dayne some work behind the STARTING offensive line as well. That means we could see the Giants #1 "O" line squad on the field for an extended period, giving New York a big edge rushing the ball against New England's back-up defenders. As for the all-important QB rotation, following Kerry Collins in the 1st Q, expect capable Jessie Palmer to play the 2nd and 3rd Qs, before Jason Garrett and Ryan Van Dyke mop up.
DE Michael Strahan has a broken little toe and will not play, leaving the Giants defensive line thin, but overall their "D" is probably in better shape than the Pats. New England has several starters out, including BOTH cornerbacks. TWO rookies will start in their stead; second-round draft choice Eugene Wilson (Illinois) and fourth-round pick Asante Samuel (Central Florida). They have played well in camp, but they aren't quite Ty Law and Otis Smith yet. Other reasons that the Patriot offense may not be able to take advantage of the Giants hurting "D" line is the fact that New England's already anemic running game is running thin, with J.R. Redmond (ribs) and Antwoine Womack (knee) both hobbled. Of course, Tom Brady is the starting QB for the Pats and will play the 1st quarter; however, he has looked inconsistent at times during camp. He remains a strong, precise quarterback in the short passing game, but the long ball remains a work in progress. The Pats have spent much time trying to go deep this camp, with varying degrees of success. The quarterback seeing most of the action for head coach Bill Belichick in this game will be Rohan Davey who will be calling signals for the 2nd and 3rd quarters, while Damon Huard and Kliff Kingsbury finish up.
For this contest, it's very possible that Davey will determine the outcome of this game more than any other player on the field. He has not shown us anything yet that would allow us to have confidence in him carrying the day for New England, so we certainly give an edge to the New York QB rotation here. Even if Collins and Brady's play cancel each other out in the 1st quarter, the Giants will then turn the next 2 quarters of the game over to their 2nd-best quarterback, Jessie Palmer, while New England will go with their 3rd-best in Davey. Damon Huard has been the 2nd-team QB on the depth chart in Foxboro for several years, but the writing is now on the wall. The Pats want to unload him and go with the less-expensive Davey as the #2 QB and the rookie Kingsbury at #3. This would make Huard and his salary expendable; however, Davey will have to prove he's the #2 guy on the field - something he has yet to do. This is why Huard is being relegated to 4th-quarter garbage time. We'll gladly go with the Giants Jessie Palmer over Rohan Davey, especially considering the unhealthy condition of the New England secondary.
Again, PRO INFO SPORTS expects both teams to play a conservatively called game so as to not give away anything special they may use in October. That fact, combined with the expected weather, makes this game ripe for the UNDER. There's a good chance of some rain, perhaps even a thunderstorm (Hopefully they'll play the ENTIRE game as opposed to Monday's Chiefs-Packers contest.), so conditions will likely not be conducive for offenses to move up and down the field. In early pre-season play, New England's games have gone UNDER the total 10 of 12 times, while in the last 2 exhibition seasons, they've gone UNDER in 6 of their 8 games played overall. The Giants are 6-2 ATS over their last 8 contests in early and Week 1 exhibition play. We'll take the points and the UNDER as we like New York to win this game SU in a low-scoring affair.
NY Giants +3 over NEW ENGLAND
Welcome to the first full week of NFL Preseason play as the New York Giants and the New England Patriots battle at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night. The Giants will be attempting to forget their monumental collapse in the Wild Card game against San Francisco last season as they blew a 24-point lead in the third quarter only to fall 39-38 in the now-infamous "bad snap" contest. New England, which is now a year-and-a-half removed from winning the Super Bowl, will try to the take the first step to reclaiming its glory. The Patriots missed out on the postseason last year, as they finished in a three-way tie at 9-7 with the New York Jets and Miami for the top spot in the rugged AFC East.
This is the third consecutive season that these teams have began the preseason against each other, so it's a familiar practice game for the coaches. Even more importantly, we note that the Giants will return to play the Patriots on October 12 in Week 6 of the regular season. Expect both coaches to play this game close to the vest and not tip their hand as to how they might play the game that really counts in a couple of months.
PRO INFO SPORTS training camp info reveals that the Giants offense has been humming right along with Kerry Collins playing flawlessly at the QB position, so we expect a very solid performance from him tomorrow night, especially when you consider the decimated defense of the Patriots he'll be facing. Again, we aren't looking for Jim Fassel to show much from the real playbook, but he probably won't need to in order to put some points on the board. Most of the Giants starters are expected to play the first quarter, with the second team playing into the third period; however, the distribution of reps at running back should be interesting. Tiki Barber is the starter, but Fassel plans on getting Dorsey Levens and Ron Dayne some work behind the STARTING offensive line as well. That means we could see the Giants #1 "O" line squad on the field for an extended period, giving New York a big edge rushing the ball against New England's back-up defenders. As for the all-important QB rotation, following Kerry Collins in the 1st Q, expect capable Jessie Palmer to play the 2nd and 3rd Qs, before Jason Garrett and Ryan Van Dyke mop up.
DE Michael Strahan has a broken little toe and will not play, leaving the Giants defensive line thin, but overall their "D" is probably in better shape than the Pats. New England has several starters out, including BOTH cornerbacks. TWO rookies will start in their stead; second-round draft choice Eugene Wilson (Illinois) and fourth-round pick Asante Samuel (Central Florida). They have played well in camp, but they aren't quite Ty Law and Otis Smith yet. Other reasons that the Patriot offense may not be able to take advantage of the Giants hurting "D" line is the fact that New England's already anemic running game is running thin, with J.R. Redmond (ribs) and Antwoine Womack (knee) both hobbled. Of course, Tom Brady is the starting QB for the Pats and will play the 1st quarter; however, he has looked inconsistent at times during camp. He remains a strong, precise quarterback in the short passing game, but the long ball remains a work in progress. The Pats have spent much time trying to go deep this camp, with varying degrees of success. The quarterback seeing most of the action for head coach Bill Belichick in this game will be Rohan Davey who will be calling signals for the 2nd and 3rd quarters, while Damon Huard and Kliff Kingsbury finish up.
For this contest, it's very possible that Davey will determine the outcome of this game more than any other player on the field. He has not shown us anything yet that would allow us to have confidence in him carrying the day for New England, so we certainly give an edge to the New York QB rotation here. Even if Collins and Brady's play cancel each other out in the 1st quarter, the Giants will then turn the next 2 quarters of the game over to their 2nd-best quarterback, Jessie Palmer, while New England will go with their 3rd-best in Davey. Damon Huard has been the 2nd-team QB on the depth chart in Foxboro for several years, but the writing is now on the wall. The Pats want to unload him and go with the less-expensive Davey as the #2 QB and the rookie Kingsbury at #3. This would make Huard and his salary expendable; however, Davey will have to prove he's the #2 guy on the field - something he has yet to do. This is why Huard is being relegated to 4th-quarter garbage time. We'll gladly go with the Giants Jessie Palmer over Rohan Davey, especially considering the unhealthy condition of the New England secondary.
Again, PRO INFO SPORTS expects both teams to play a conservatively called game so as to not give away anything special they may use in October. That fact, combined with the expected weather, makes this game ripe for the UNDER. There's a good chance of some rain, perhaps even a thunderstorm (Hopefully they'll play the ENTIRE game as opposed to Monday's Chiefs-Packers contest.), so conditions will likely not be conducive for offenses to move up and down the field. In early pre-season play, New England's games have gone UNDER the total 10 of 12 times, while in the last 2 exhibition seasons, they've gone UNDER in 6 of their 8 games played overall. The Giants are 6-2 ATS over their last 8 contests in early and Week 1 exhibition play. We'll take the points and the UNDER as we like New York to win this game SU in a low-scoring affair.
