The Daily Sweat: Maybe the Giants just are really bad this season
The New York Giants were pretty good last season. They might not have been quite as good as their 9-7-1 record, but they were a competitive playoff team that seemed to be growing.
Just about all the evidence this season seems to show that the Giants are clearly not a good team this season.
The Giants have played 12 quarters and 10 of them were undeniably bad. They had a great second half for a furious comeback against an Arizona Cardinals team that is 1-3. In the other 10 quarters they were outscored 90-12. That's not a huge sample size, but it's enough to wonder if the Giants are on their way to a miserable season.
The Giants face a critical game on Monday night. They're 1.5-point home underdogs against the Seattle Seahawks at BetMGM. They'll likely face the Seahawks without running back Saquon Barkley, who is doubtful with an ankle injury, and offensive tackle Andrew Thomas, who was ruled out.
The line already moved for the game. The Giants were 1.5-point favorites last week, and that flipped to the Seahawks being favored by 1.5. As of Sunday, 75% of the bets on the spread for Monday night's game were on the Seahawks.
Maybe that's a bad sign. Good luck trying to find anyone who wants to back the Giants tonight. In NFL betting, that's usually a good reason to back the other side, especially if it's a desperate home team getting points.
But are the Giants good enough to save their season?
Here's a first look at the sports betting slate for Monday:
Props for Seahawks at Giants
All three quarterbacks to face the Seahawks have had good games. Without Saquon Barkley the Giants don't have much on offense aside from Daniel Jones dropping back. I'm not sure Jones has an efficient game, but his passing total of 231.5 seems a little low. You can also bet passing attempts at BetMGM, and I'd lean to the over on 32.5 for Jones. Related to that, Darren Waller has had two quiet games out of three to start the season, but those came against tough Cowboys and 49ers defenses. Against an easier defense I think Waller hits over 4.5 receptions and over 47.5 yards on Monday night.
Not much else other than MNF
Monday is a weird day in the sports world. MLB's regular season wrapped up Sunday, and the playoffs don't start until Tuesday. The NBA hasn't started yet. There is NHL preseason going on. But mostly the major sporting events calendar consists of Seahawks-Giants and one English Premier League match. Chelsea takes on Fulham, with Chelsea being a +110 favorite on the three-way line.
What's the best bet?
Well, there's not much to choose from. I started liking the Seahawks last week and I'll stick with that, though it seems like the type of game in which an ugly underdog that nobody wants to back ruins a lot of bets. It's a bit of a tepid Seahawks pick on a light Monday.
