Week 2 Betting Preview
By Lenny Del Genio
Here are some key NFL betting angles for this week’s games. They are designed to aid you in your own handicapping ventures and we factor them into our own handicapping acumen, although they are not the sole basis for the plays.
Oakland (38) at Kansas City (-3): Both the line and total have been dropping despite the Raiders coming in off a short week. Note that the underdog in this series is on an 8-1 ATS run this decade at Arrowhead Stadium. Overall, the visitor has covered six straight times and won the past five meetings outright. The loser here figures to be the early favorite for worst team in the AFC. The Chiefs have covered five straight division games while the Raiders are 3-1 SU/ATS their last four division road games.
Houston (40.5) at Tennessee (-6.5): Loser here also falls to 0-2 SU. The Titans have won and covered five of the past six meetings. The Texans are on a 1-6 ATS run in Week 2 and have gone 1-4 SU/ATS last five road openers. However, they have covered six of their last seven division games. Tennessee was 7-1 SU/6-1-1 ATS at home last year and 4-2 SU/ATS in the division. They have also covered eight straight September games. Houston has gone Over in nine straight games against an opponent off a road game.
New England (-3) at NY Jets (45.5): Line has dropped significantly and we don’t know why. The Patriots have covered six straight division road games (12-1 SU/ATS L13). The Jets have gone just 2-13 ATS since ’92 at home during the first two weeks of the season. Even more impressive about New England is the fact that they’ve covered 10 straight games at the Meadowlands (9-1 SU). During the Eric Mangini era, New York was an awful 1-7-1 ATS at home vs. division opponents. Jets players are calling this game their “Super Bowl.”
Cincinnati (42) at Green Bay (-9.5): The Bengals come off an awful loss to Denver while the Packers come off a last-minute win over Chicago. First time Cincinnati has played in Green Bay since ’95. Pack won and covered 3 of 4 AFC games LY. Cincy is 2-6 SU/3-5 ATS L8 road openers. The bad news for the Cheese Heads is a 1-5-1 ATS mark the week after playing the Bears. For what it’s worth, the Bengals went 4-0 ATS vs. the NFC last year, doing so against the tough NFC East no less.
Minnesota (-9.5) at Detroit (46.5): 18 straight regular season losses and counting for the Lions. Detroit actually played its two best games of last year’s winless campaign against the Vikings, losing both by a combined six points, and have covered four straight NFC North games. Minnesota is just 3-8-1 ATS in division play the last two seasons, but has gone 7-1 SU/5-2-1 ATS vs. Detroit since 2005. The Lions are on a 2-10 ATS slide at home, but are 4-3 SU/5-1-1 ATS in the last seven home openers.
New Orleans (Pick) at Philadelphia (46): Clearly the key here is monitoring the Eagles QB situation, which is still unknown as of press. McNabb (cracked ribs) is out, so it will either backup Kevin Kolb or the recently signed Jeff Garcia (led team to 6-2 record as starter in ’06). Whoever wins here establishes themselves as a prime contender in the rapidly improving NFC. Eagles went 6-2 SU/ATS at home last season while the Saints are just 2-7 L9 “true” road games, allowing an average of 26.2 PPG.
St. Louis (36.5) at Washington (-9.5): A winless Rams team went into the Nation’s Capital last year and upset a 4-1 Redskins team that was favored by 13 points, so stranger things have happened. However, St. Louis was the only team to get shutout in Week 1 and is on an astounding 0-9 SU/ATS run during the month of September. Meanwhile, the news isn’t going for Washington either as they are just 9-21 ATS in September home games and just 6-11 ATS L17 when favored.
Arizona (42.5) at Jacksonville (-3): Previous Super Bowl losers have failed to make the playoffs seven of the past eight seasons, so an 0-2 start would be an ominous sign for a Cardinals team that went 0-5 SU/ATS in the Eastern Time Zone last regular season, losing by an average of 20 PPG. Still, the Cards are 7-2 ATS under HC Wisenhunt in non-conference games. These teams have met just twice all-time, with the Jags winning and covering both. Arizona is 7-1 ATS the week after playing San Francisco.
Seattle (39) at San Francisco (-1.5): This sets up as a pretty important game in the NFC West as the winner be the lone unbeaten and it’s probably only going to take nine wins to seal the division. The Niners were outgained in last week’s win over Arizona. Seattle is 5-2 SU/ATS run at San Francisco and 8-3 SU/7-4 ATS L11 overall. 49ers have failed to cover six of seven as division hosts while Seahawks are 1-9 ATS after coming off a double-digit win.
Tampa Bay (42) at Buffalo (-5.5): The key is how will the Bills respond emotionally after gagging away a sure fire MNF winner in New England. Believe it or not, but this is the first time EVER Tampa Bay will be playing in Buffalo. For sure, they are thankful the game is being played in September and not December. Buffalo has never covered in five all-time meetings, but this could be the shot as they are 14-3 ATS the week after playing the Patriots. Tampa Bay allowed 462 yards to Dallas last week.
Cleveland (37.5) at Denver (-3): As bad as Denver was thought to be coming into the regular season, they have a great shot at a good start with the Browns, then the Raiders on deck. The Broncos were the worst pointspread team in the league last year, going 0-8 ATS at home and they were favored in all of those games. In fact, they are just 5-19 ATS at home since ’06 and 3-15 ATS when favored in any setting. Cleveland has lost seven straight games to Denver and this is must win for QB Brady Quinn.
Baltimore (40.5) at San Diego (-3): The scoreboard read just 38-24 in favor of Baltimore last week in Kansas City, but they outgained the Chiefs by a whopping 501-188 margin. San Diego, however, has covered seven straight home games when coming off a SU win. The host has won and covered five of the past six meetings. The Ravens are just 1-7 SU and 2-6 ATS L8 road openers. The key is which Chargers team shows up. RB LaDanian Tomlinson is a game time decision.
Pittsburgh (-3) at Chicago (37.5): It was a disastrous debut for Bears QB Jay Cutler, who tossed a career-high four INT’s vs. Green Bay last week. Now he must face a Steelers defense, albeit one without S Troy Polamalu, that ranked #1 in every major defensive category last season. The 320 yards Pittsburgh allowed to Tennessee last week was more than all but two teams gained on them last year. Pittsburgh is just 10-15 ATS L25 road games. Lovie Smith is a terrible head coach.
Indianapolis (-3) at Miami (42): This is the Monday nighter. After leading the league in TO differential last regular season, the Dolphins have now coughed it up nine times in the last two games. The news keeps getting worse as the Colts have covered seven straight games as a road favorite vs. a non-division opponent. Miami is an awful 3-13 ATS in home games overall, 0-9 ATS at home off an Under and 0-3 ATS in home openers. We told you that the Dolphins were due for a drop off in ’09.
Week 2 Preview
By Andre Gomes
NE at NYJ
The Patriots have something to prove in here, as against the Bills in MNF, they didn't look like at all the supposedly best team in the league that everybody thinks they are. And the Jets have already started the trash talk with them: "I'm looking forward to it," head coach Rex Ryan said. "They're better than us in two spots that I know for sure and that's head coach and quarterback. But we'll find out who has the better team right now. We'll see." So surely we will have an exciting game to watch in here.
The Pats and Tom Brady didn't look sharp early on in their game against Buffalo, but as the game went by, Brady regained his touch and torched the Bills down the stretch. The big problem for the Patriots was their offensive line which didn't offer the properly protection to Brady and to make things even worse, the Jets have a scary defensive line with DT Kris Jenkins leading the unit. The Patriots have also struggled defensively and without Jared Mayo, this unit may struggle once again this week. Mark Sanchez was brilliant in Houston, but obviously this game will be different for him and let's see how he will cope with the pressure. The Pats may have won their first game of the season, but they still have something to prove this week, while the Jets will bring to the field one vastly upgraded defensive team that will surely cause some headaches to Brady.
TB at BUF
The Bills were a small step away from being the highlight team of the week, as they almost defeated the Patriots on the road in a MNF game. The key word in here is the "almost", because a bad play down the stretch made them blew the chance for a huge win. The question for this game is to find out if the Bills are able to have the same effort this week that they had against the Pats. I remember that they had one less day to rest and that game was a big emotional game. Their Offensive Line was a pleasant surprise for me and they took advantage from the Pats sent a lot of times double coverages to TO and Lee Evans to march in the field with short passes. Also Trent Edwards looked sharp during the whole game.
On the other side, the Buccaneers were also a good surprise last week against Dallas. They had a dynamic RB duo in Cadillac Williams and Derrick Ward that combined 159 rushing yards. QB Leftwich enjoyed having a good receiving corps in Clayton, Stevens and Winslow and one Offensive Line that didn't allow a single sack! But in my opinion, the Bucs will have 3 big problems for this game: The loss of center Jeff Faine is a huge blow for a compact OL; Dallas WR's torched the Bucs' secondary unit and the Bills have TO and Lee Evans ready to make their secondary struggle again; Finally the Bills' special teams appears to have a huge advantage against a Bucs team which failed 2 FG and ended with an average of just 41.0 yds in their punts. If the Bucs want to be competitive in here, they will have to find a way to minimize these mismatches.
ARI at JAC
The Jaguars look to have the best spot of the two teams in here. After all, they were involved in a dogfight in Indianapolis last week against a pass happy top offensive team like the Colts and they were pretty close to make the upset. However, their passing game looked horrible and only Jones-Drew was able to carry them in the field. We must also not forget that they held the Colts to just 14 points in an apparently good defensive job, but the Colts' overall numbers were scary. Meanwhile, the Cardinals rode in the typical spot of a Superbowl hangover, with several errors mainly in the offensive side of the field. A lot of penalties, 0-6 in third down conversations at the break and Warner with two interceptions were the highlights of a supposedly top offensive team. Naturally, I expect them to bounce back this week especially because we also need to give some credit to the Niners' defense. If the Jags can repeat the Niners' effort, then the Cards will surely be in trouble again. But the Cardinals worked hard in their defensive end in their game against San Francisco and I have to say that their defense is clearly being underrated. Nice contrast of styles in here, I believe the team who shows up more motivated and being able to hide their weakness better will win this game.
HOU at TEN
The Titans made a terrific game in Pittsburgh against the Steelers and their defense was superb even though Albert Haynesworth is no longer with them. Ben Roethlisberger suffered four sacks and had two of his passes intercepted. Also, Pittsburgh's running backs routinely got their noses bloodied, futilely pounding 22 times for a mere 33 yards, or 1.5 per try. Now going for this contest, they had a few more days to rest and prepare this game and they need to win this game badly to avoid being in a 0-2 hole. The Texans had probably the worst performance of the week (ok, they were probably slightly better the Rams). Matt Schaub saw just 54.5% (18-33) of his throws being completed for just 166 yds and one pick. Running Back Steve Slaton wasn't the shining rookie RB of last season and ended with just 17 yds for 9 carries. I watched this game a few days ago and honestly the Texans were completely unprepared for the Jets. They hadn't a single clue of what the Jets were going to do defensively and offensively and they got burned. One of the biggest advantages for a team that has a new head coach, a new Quarterback, new receivers and a new system is the surprise factor and the Jets took advantage of that. The Texans will now face a top defensive team, but the advantage for them is that the Titans are a more "predictable" team. Are you able to give another chance to the supposedly "top team" Texans against one of the best defensive teams of the league? Tricky question in here.
STL at WAS
Despite losing by just 6 points against the Giants, the Redskins didn't play well and they will search try to have a better performance in this week's game. The Giants controlled the clock (36 vs. 24 minutes of possession) and only their inability to capitalize in the Red Zone (0-3) gave the Redskins some room to breathe. The Redskins must apply more pressure than they did against the Giants, because quarterback Eli Manning had all the time in the world to get through his progressions and find open receivers and the Redskins couldn't get any rhythm. Cinton Portis finished the game with only 62 rushing yards and the Redskins need him to be plus 100yds each game, however we cannot forget that he faced one of the best defensive rushing teams of the league. Meanwhile, the Rams were the only team in week 1 that didn't put their names in the scoreboard. They had a terrible performance in Seattle and they will look for a bounce back. Curiously, last season they went to Washington winless and defeated the Redskins by 19-17, even though they were 12-points underdogs in that game and the Redskins were coming from 4 consecutive wins. I expect Washington to have the revenge word in their minds, but I must remember that last season they didn't win a single game by double digits points!
SEA at SF
These two teams have won in the first week and they will look to open an early gap in the NFC West. The 49ers defeated the Cardinals by 20-16 on the road with a strong defensive performance that held the potent Cardinals' offense to just 299 yards, while picking off 2 times Kurt Warner. Their defense is vastly improved and they really play hard, so we got to give merit to the head coach Singletary. On the other hand, the Seahawks spanked the Rams 28-0 in a walk in the park for them. They completely outgained the Rams in every facet of the game, but they did commit 3 turnovers as well. Against a top class team, this might hurt them and the 49ers are a much better team than the Rams. The Seahawks offensive line didn't allow a single sack to Hasselbeck, but the 49ers will bring another kind of pressure to them and let's see if they can really protect him. Probably this game will be decided in the last possession in an authentic ballgame.
CAR at ATL
Can Jake Delhomme bounce back after a dismal performance? Well, it's actually after two dismal performances! In the first week of this season, he killed the Panthers' chances to defeat the Eagles with 4 interceptions and one fumble, so he will try to redeem himself. Last season, he played against the Falcons, as he threw for 589 yards and three touchdowns in two games - with no interceptions with ratings of 124.8 and 96.9! The question for the Panthers is to find out if Delhomme was really the only reason of their bad outing last week or if their running game and offensive line have actually struggled as well. The truth is that Williams and Stewart rushed for just 72 yards and Delhomme was sacked 5 times! Meanwhile, the Falcons are coming from a nice win against Miami, where they dominated both floors of the field. RB Michael Turner had a subpar game with just 65 rushing yards (3.0 average), but I have also to give some credit to the Dolphins'defense in that department. It was the Falcons' defense that really impressed me, as they held Miami to just 7 points. The Dolphins rushed for just 96 yards and they kept Chad Pennington in alert the whole game! Last season these two teams won a game each in this series and for this contest the key will be if Jake Delhomme will be able to bounce back...or not
CLE at DEN
The Broncos were one of the highlighted teams of the week not for their stellar performance in the first game of the season, but rather for the bizarre late touchdown scored by Brandon Stokley that gave the Broncos a tasty win. The Broncos were erratic on the offensive end with several drops from their receiving corps, despite Kyle Orton not having committed any mistakes and actually ended the game with a QB rating of 100.2. On the other side, we have to give some props for their defense, because the Bengals only reached the red zone twice in the entire game and did not score a point for 59 minutes and 19 seconds! Last season Denver was one of the worst defensive teams of the league and so we need to know if they are vastly improved for this season or if it is the Bengals' offense that really sucks. Meanwhile, the Browns played a good game against the Vikings, where they led at the break by 13-10, but in the second half they weren't able to hold Adrian Peterson. RB Jamal Lewis played well with 57 yards and 5.2 carries/yard and we must not forget that he faced the best running defense of the league. Until they ran out of gas, the Browns' defense was able to limit the Vikings powerful offense and so, this week's contest between Denver and Cleveland might turn into a punt parade.
MIN at DET
Somehow this game reminds me of last week's Monday Night Football game between the Raiders and the Chargers. You know that the Vikings are clearly the better team, but you must expect a huge effort from the Lions at home. They were spanked in New Orleans by 27-45 and Matt Stafford didn't enjoy a good NFL debut by connecting just 43.2% of his attempts and throwing 3 interceptions. The Lions' offensive line made a reasonable job in protecting him, but I have to remind that the Vikings DL are another animal when compared to the Saints. Meanwhile, the Vikings are coming from a good win in Cleveland in which Brett Favre adapted pretty well to his new role: he isn't the franchise player of this team, that player is Adrian Peterson and Favre seems to have understood that. Peterson carried the ball for 180 yards and 3 Touchdowns. At the same time, the Lions allowed 157 rushing yards to the Saints and so, I don't good things happening for Detroit today in this department. I like the spot for the Lions in here, but their defense scares me especially when taking in account that Peterson is coming to town! But don't forget as well that the 2008 0-16 Lions team covered the spread in both games they played against Minnesota!
OAK at KC
These two teams have lost in the opening week, but they are carrying some optimism for the week 1. The Chiefs played in Baltimore without Matt Cassell and somehow, they found a way to put 24 points in the scoreboard against a great defensive team. However, we cannot forget the fact that Baltimore outgained the Chiefs 501-188 yards and Joe Flacco suddenly looked like Tom Brady on the field. For this contest, Matt Cassell is probable and the good news is that Oakland doesn't have the same defense as the Ravens have. However, the Raiders'defense was impressive against the Chargers. Richard Seymour had an immediate impact and the Raiders were able to put some pressure in Phillip Rivers. The Raiders' offense looked like a competent unit, but JaMarcus Russell really needs to find some receivers and be more accurate. The Raiders are coming from a huge effort in a Monday Night Football and let's see if they can duplicate the effort for this contest. Both teams need to win to avoid a 0-2 hole and the unhappiness of their fans and so, this will be an ugly physical game.
NO at PHI
Donovan Mcnabb is out for this contest and the Eagles more than ever will have to rely on their defense to be competitive, the problem is that they will play against the most potent offensive team of the league. Last week, the Eagles defense took advantage of an erratic Jake Delhomme and torched the Panthers 38-10. Drew Brees most likely won't have such a dismal performance in this game, but the Saints must remember as well that they will not play against a team like the Lions this week. You can say that Brees had 6 touchdowns and the Saints ended with 515 total yards, but we must not forget that the Lions were able to score 27 points against them and that is not a good sign. This game will be a classic matchup between a good offensive team against a good defensive team. It's usual to say that defense is what makes the teams win their games, but in this case it's hard to go against Brees and his receiving corps.
PIT at CHI
Instead of being the savior, Jay Cutler was turned into the Bears' public target, due to his awful performance in Green Bay. He ended the game with 4 Interceptions and just 47.2 % of completions. If we add to the mix the fact that RB Matt Forte had only 55 rushing yards for 25 carries (a low 2.2 of average), it's obvious that it was a poor overall offensive performance from the Bears. The good news is that they were still close to defeat the Packers, so the chance they had to win the game was all due to the Bears' defense! The problem is that their leader Brian Urlacher is out for the season and the Bears must deal with it. Meanwhile, the Steelers are coming from a close win against the Titans, in a match where, once again, it was showed how clutch Ben Roethlisberger can be, as he guided the Steelers in very long three last drives (56, 54 and 63 yards). However, the Steelers showed some problems from the past: their offensive line wasn't solid and Willie Parker rushed for only 19 yards! Troy Polamalu is out for this game and he absolutely dominated that game until he got injured. I remember that the Steelers were a reliable horse on the road last season with a 6-2 record and having a few extra days to rest, they look to be in a favorable spot, but the Bears are hungry and Cutler will surely try to bounce back in this game.
CIN at GB
The Bengals are coming from an unbelievable loss at home against the Broncos in a bizarre late touchdown, but honestly I think they deserved to lose in that way, as they needed 59:22 minutes to put their name in the scoreboard! QB Carson Palmer looked rusty, despite ending the game with 247 yards, as he threw 2 Interceptions for no touchdowns. Their defense was actually a surprise, but we must not forget that they played against the Broncos and their offense isn't at the same level as last season's. Meanwhile, the Packers needed a big 50 yards play down the stretch to defeat the Bears. Despite this big play, Rodgers went down nine times and the offense that so many people thought was going to be nearly unstoppable didn't have a good night. Four sacks and several penalties which created lots of second-and-long situations were the culprit of such bad performance but let's face it, the Bears looked terrific defensively during the whole game, except in that big play. Although the Packers are making the transition from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense, they adjusted to that quickly and in my opinion, they are an underrated defensive team. We have in here a blowout spread line for the Packers, so it will depend of the ability of the Packers' offense to bounce back or not and that is what will decide the game and the pointspread in here.
BAL at SD
The Chargers are coming from a phony win in Oakland against the Raiders in a MNF game. They had huge problems to handle the physical play from the Raiders defense and they might be prepared for this contest because the Ravens "D" can play even harder. They had one less day to rest and LT is out for this game, so we will see Daren Sproles running the show for the Chargers. Nevertheless, Phillip Rivers showed how clutch he is in the Chargers two last drives that ended with 2 touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Ravens apparently struggled to beat a presumably inferior AFC West Kansas City team in their season opener, as the game was tied at 24 with just a few minutes remaining. However, the Ravens dominated the game, with almost three times as many total yards (501-188) and first downs (32-11) as Kansas City, which scored once on a blocked punt and once after returning an interception. Joe Flacco enjoyed a big game with 307 yards and 3 Touchdowns, but will the Ravens return to their original game plan (run oriented game) or they will let Flacco to be their main focus? This will be in my opinion the X factor for this game, as the Ravens have the capacity to pull the trigger in here, but they must perform properly.
NYG at DAL
The Giants, Cowboys and the Eagles will fight for the NFC East, so the series between these 3 teams will be more important then ever. Tony Romo is coming from a career game against the Bucs with 353 yards and 3 Touchdowns, but the Giants are another completely different animal on the defensive end. They will put more pressure in Romo, but the Giants' secondary is banged up right now: Top CB Aaron Ross is out. The other starter, Kevin Dockery, has hamstring worries, but expects to play. Starting safeties Kenny Phillips and Michael Johnson are also are battling injuries, but both should play. Another key matchup will be the Cowboys' running game with their 3 RB's Barber, Jones and Choice against the Giants' powerful running defense. Last week, the Giants held Clinton Portis to just 62 yards while the Cowboys rushed 118 yds (4.9 yds/carrie) against Tampa Bay.This is going to be the first official game in the new Cowboys' stadium and a lot of emotions will be present. The Giants have already shown that they can play in tough environments and this will be a heck of a game.
Tips and Trends
Baltimore Ravens at San Diego Chargers
Ravens: Defense has always been the Ravens’ strength. But with second-year quarterback Joe Flacco passing for 307 yards and three touchdowns, the Ravens piled up a franchise-best 501 total yards in beating the Chiefs last week, 38-24. Flacco is going to be passing more this season so Baltimore’s offense should be improved because it also has good running backs led by Ray Rice. The Ravens remain a top-notch defensive club with Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs. They helped Baltimore give up the second-fewest yards in the NFL last season, while forcing a league-best 34 turnovers. The Ravens haven’t allowed a running back to rush for 100 yards in 36 straight games, which also is a league-high. Baltimore is 13-4 against the spread since John Harbaugh became the coach last season. The Ravens have covered five of seven times as a road ‘dog under Harbaugh.
The Ravens are 9-2 ATS their past 11 games versus AFC foes.
The Over is 15-7 in the Ravens’ last 22 games against AFC competition.
Key Injuries - Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (ankle) is questionable.
PROJECTED SCORE: 19 (Side of the Day)
Chargers (-3, O/U 40): The Chargers have won 22 of their last 27 home games, going 18-9 against the spread. However, they won’t have running back LaDainian Tomlinson and might not have two offensive line starters, including center Nick Hardwick. The Chargers rushed for just 77 yards on 23 carries in last Monday’s 24-20 road win against Oakland. The Chargers didn’t pull out that victory until Darren Sproles scored with 18 seconds left. Because of playing on Monday, the Chargers have had one less day to practice. San Diego had trouble stepping up in class last year during the regular season, losing to Atlanta at home, Indianapolis at home, Pittsburgh on the road, Miami on the road and Carolina at home. San Diego has failed to cover six of the past eight times it has been a favorite. The Chargers are 10-4 against the number as a home favorite, though.
The Chargers are 8-0 to the Over in their last 8 September games.
The home team in this series has covered 6 of the last seven times.
Keyf Injuries - Running back LaDainian Tomlinson (ankle) is out.
Center Nick Hardwick (knee) is doubtful.
Guard Louis Vasquez (foot) is questionable.
PROJECTED SCORE: 21
New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
Giants: The Giants have been the best road warriors in the NFL going 14-3 straight-up and 15-2 against the spread in their last 17 road outings. However, the Cowboys have defeated the Giants four of the past five times, including going 3-1 in their last four home contests. Dallas sacked Eli Manning eight times in the team’s last meeting in Dallas, which was a 20-8 Cowboys victory on Dec. 14. The Giants held the Redskins to 272 yards in a 23-17 opening-week victory last Sunday, forcing two turnovers and getting three sacks. The Giants get back suspended linebacker Michael Boley. However, they have a cluster injury problem in their secondary. Cornerback Aaron Ross is out. Cornerback Kevin Dockery missed last week, but is expected to play, while safeties Kenny Phillips and Michael Johnson are both banged-up. Tony Romo has torched the Giants for 1,370 yards and 12 touchdowns in his career.
The Giants are 16-5 ATS versus a team with a winning record.
The Under has cashed in 13 of the Giants’ last 19 road games.
Key Injuries - Cornerback Aaron Ross (hamstring) is out.
Running back Danny Ware (elbow) is out.
Wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (foot) is out.
Defensive lineman Chris Canty (calf) is doubtful.
PROJECTED SCORE: 21
Cowboys (-3, O/U 44.5): Excitement should fill the air for this Sunday night matchup as Dallas opens its new $1.15 billion dollar stadium. Tony Romo threw for three touchdowns and 353 yards opening week leading the Cowboys past Tampa Bay, 34-21. Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton gave early word that Dallas wouldn’t miss Terrell Owens as they accounted for 221 of the receiving yards. The Cowboys did surrender 450 yards to Tampa Bay, the most they’ve allowed in 36 games. The Buccaneers rushed for 174 yards, averaging 5.6 yards per carry, while holding DeMarcus Ware to no sacks. The Cowboys still covered the spread pushing their mark to 6-1 against the number when favored. Dallas has a history of starting slow. The Cowboys have covered in eight of their past 10 September games. However, Dallas has struggled when meeting NFC East Division foes failing to cover in eight of their last 10 matchups.
Dallas is 4-9 ATS versus teams with a winning record.
The Under is 10-4 the past 14 times these two teams have met in Dallas.
Key Injuries - None
PROJECTED SCORE: 24 (OVER - Total of the Day)