Cowboys open as underdogs to Giants ahead of first road trip of 2022
The Dallas Cowboys pulled off an impressive home victory without their signal caller on Sunday afternoon. Losing Dak Prescott to a thumb injury that required surgery was not the way the club planned to start defense of their NFC East championship. The mood within the walls of The Star exuded confidence, but surrounding the club there was a lot of doubt among the fans and the media. However the Cowboys raced out to an early lead against the defending AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals and then kicked a winning field goal as time expired to win 20-17 and improve to 1-1 on the season.
Meanwhile the New York Giants are one of a few surprise teams in the NFL early in the season. After starting each of the last five seasons with a loss, the club is above .500 for the first time since 2016, which was the last time they started a season 2-0. They’ll try and make it 3-0 in head coach Brian Daboll’s initial season. For now, with Prescott out for at least a second game, the odds have the Giants as home favorites, but not by much.
Opening Point Spread: Giants -2.5
Relying on Tipico’s odds, the Giants are home favorites, but not by much. Many people feel that home-field advantage is an automatic three points before a spread is adjusted for the quality of the team. That isn’t always the case. Based on historical trends, some team’s home-field advantage is adjusted up or down.
When reading spreads, the team that is favored is referred to as “giving points.” In other words, if the Giants were to give away 2.5 points, this game would be seen as an even match. The Giants are 2.5-point favorites, so in order to win a bet New York has to win by at least three points and conversely, if Dallas loses by one or two points, or wins outright, a bet on the Cowboys is a winning one.
The Cowboys are referred to as +2.5.
Spread History in 2022
The Giants were +5.5 in Week 1 on the road against the Tennessee Titans, but escaped with a 21-20 victory. They were +1 on Sunday in their own building against the Carolina Panthers, and won 19-16. They’ve covered the spread in both of their contests.
The Cowboys were +2.5 home dogs to the Bucs on opening weekend and lost 19-3. They were +7 home underdogs to the Bengals on Sunday, and won 20-17. Dallas is 1-1 against the spread.
Over/Under opens at 39.5
This total is tied for the lowest of the opening total of Week 3, next to the Texans and Bears squaring off… yikes.
The Over/Under is the guesstimate of the total amount of points to be scored by both teams.
For instance if the final score of Monday’s game ended up being 24-20, then an Over bet would win because 44 total points were scored. If the final score was 19-17, then the Under bet would win based on a total of 36 points being scored.
Over/Under History in 2022
The Giants’ totals in their two games this year have been low-scoring affairs, failing to reach the projected total. Against Tennessee in Week 1 the total was set at 44 and the final total was 41. The total on Sunday for Giants-Panthers was 43.5 and they only reached 35.
It’s a similar story for the Cowboys. Week 1’s total was set at 50 but the teams only managed 22 total points. Sunday’s game against Cincinnati was projected to reach 42 but only hit 37.
The expectations are trending downward for the scoring output of both teams.
Cowboys Money Line is currently set for +130
The Money Line is a simple win-or-lose bet. If someone thinks one team will win, but they don’t want to give or take any points, they bet on them “straight up.”
If someone bets on a favorite the ML will be negative, an underdog, positive. All bets are spoken of in terms of wagering an even $100.
So if someone were to wager $100 on the Cowboys to win outright, then they would get their $100 back, plus $130 in profit. Just in the time spent writing this article, Dallas’ ML shifted from +125.
The Giants ML is set to -155. So it would take someone betting $155 in order win an additional $100.
