Redskins Giants Line

Written by Steve Janus

The New York Giants are set to host the Washington Redskins in a key NFC East showdown. The Giants improved to 7-6 with an improbably 37-34 win over the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, and are now tied with Dallas on top the division standings. The Giants will take on a struggling Redskins team that lost 27-34 at home to the Patriots. It was Washington’s fifth straight loss at home and their eighth loss in their last nine games overall. Washington defeated the Giants 28-14 way back in week 1, but that is their only division win this season.

Taking a look at the week 15 NFL spreads, oddsmakers currently have the Giants favored by 7-points over the Redskins with the total set at 44 points.

Washington Redskins:

The Redskins don’t have a lot to play for sitting at 4-9 overall, but I expect them to come into this game extremely motivated to beat the Giants. No team wants to lose a division game regardless of where the two teams are in the standings, and you have to believe the Redskins would love nothing more than to sweep the Giants and hurt their chances of making the playoffs. While Washington is just 1-3 inside the NFC East, all three losses have come by a touchdown or less.

The Redskins trailed the whole way in their loss to the Patriots, but were never down by more than a touchdown the entire way. They had numerous chances late to tie the game, but just couldn’t make the play when they needed to.

Rex Grossman bounced back from an ugly game against the Jets to throw for 252 yards and two touchdowns, while rookie running back Roy Helu carried it 27 times for 126 yards. The Redskins 27 points were the most they had scored in a game since that 28-14 win over the Giants.

Washington figures to have a good opportunity to keep the offense going against New York, especially the passing attack. The Giants are 29th in the NFL against the pass, giving up 263.7 ypg, and were just torched for 321 yards and four touchdowns by Tony Romo and the Cowboys.

New York Giants:

The Giants needed to beat the Cowboys to have realistic shot at making the playoffs this season, and were able to answer the call with a dramatic 4th quarter rally. New York trailed Dallas 22-34 with just 5:41 left to play, but were able to score on their final two possessions and block a last second field goal to secure the win.

Eli Manning continued his impressive play with another huge game. Manning picked apart the Cowboys secondary for 400 yard and two touchdowns, and is averaging a ridiculous 384 yards over his last three games.

While tight end Jake Ballard and wide out Mario Manningham caught Manning’s two touchdown passes, it was Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz who did most of the damage. Nicks had seven catches for 154 yards, while Cruz had seven grabs for 83 yards.

New York also got a big game out of running back Brandon Jacobs, who piled on 101 yards and two touchdowns on 19 attempts. Ahmad Bradshaw had to sit out the first half after violating team rules, and ended up finishing with just 12 yards on eight carries. As good as Manning and the passing game has been, getting Bradshaw going would really increase their chances of winning the division.

Manning was held to just 268 yards without a touchdown in the first game against the Redskins, but figures to have a much better go of things this time around. Washington just allowed Tom Brady to throw for 357 yards and three scores last week.

Betting Trends:

Washington is 33-15 ATS as a road underdog of 3.5 to 7 points since 1992.

New York is 24-9 ATS off an upset win over a division rival as an underdog since 1992.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this week in the NFL.

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