Sunday Night Football Giants at Cowboys

NFL Week 1

Giants @ Dallas — Cowboys are hideous 3-17 as home favorite under Garrett; they’ve covered only five of last 21 divisional home games, are 5-12-1 in last 18 games where spread was 3 or less points. Enter 73-year old (new DC) Monte Kiffin, whose mission is to upgrade Dallas defense that allowed 34 ppg in losing its last four home games to Giants, who are 8-3 in last 11 games vs Cowboys, with road team winning five of last six meetings. Big Blue covered seven of last ten tries as road underdog, 14 of last 21 divisional road games- they’re 14-7-1 vs spread in last 22 games where spread was 3 or less. Cowboys are 5-2 in last seven home openers, but failed to cover last five, all as favorites. Giants are 7-5 as dogs in road openers, 4-3 in last seven SU; 11 of their last 13 road openers went over total. Giants have some injury issues on OL, potential problem for less-than-mobile QB Manning. Seven of last eight series totals were 45+.

Armadillosports.com

Sunday Night Football: Giants at Cowboys
By Covers.com

New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys (-3.5, 50)

The New York Giants attempt to continue their dominance at AT&T Stadium when they visit the Dallas Cowboys inr the season opener for both teams Sunday night. New York has won all four of its games in Dallas' new stadium since it opened in 2009, including a 29-24 triumph on Oct. 28. The Giants have captured six of the last eight overall meetings between the NFC East rivals.

New York hopes to have Victor Cruz in the lineup as the wide receiver suffered a bruised heel in the second week of the preseason and just returned to practice on Monday. Dallas, which has missed the playoffs each of the last three seasons, looks to improve upon the 19th-ranked defense in the league in 2012. In an effort to accomplish this goal, the club replaced defensive coordinator Rob Ryan with Monte Kiffin and switched to a 4-3 alignment.

LINE: The Cowboys opened at -3 and have been bet up to -3.5.

ABOUT THE GIANTS (2012: 9-7, second NFC East): For the second straight season, running back Andre Brown was placed in the injured reserve/designated to return list - this time with a cracked bone in his left leg. Brown, who missed all of 2012 with a fractured left leg, is eligible to play on Nov. 10 against Oakland - putting plenty of pressure on David Wilson in the meantime. While Andre Brown may return at some point, safety Stevie Brown was lost for the season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the team's third preseason game.

ABOUT THE COWBOYS (2012: 8-8, third NFC East): Tony Romo will be under the microscope like never before, as he was signed to a six-year, $108 million contract extension in the offseason despite tying a career high with 19 interceptions in 2012. Offensive coordinator Bill Callahan will succeed head coach Jason Garrett as the play-caller in an effort to help Romo improve upon his career-worst 90.5 passer rating from last season. Romo did, however, set franchise records in passing yards (4,903) and completions (425) last season.

TRENDS:

* The Cowboys are 2-10 ATS in their last 12 versus the NFC East.
* The Giants are 0-4 ATS in their last four road games.
* The over is 4-0 in the last four meetings in Dallas.
* The road team is 5-1 ATS in their last six meetings.

EXTRA POINTS:

1. New York QB Eli Manning has started 135 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the league. He is the only signal-caller in team history to pass for 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in eight straight seasons.

2. High-scoring games have been the norm of late in the all-time series. The Giants have scored at least 20 points in seven of the last eight meetings, while the Cowboys have done the same in eight of the last nine matchups.

3. Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul is questionable for the season opener. Pierre-Paul did not play in the preseason after undergoing back surgery in June.

SNF - Giants at Cowboys
By Brian Edwards
VegasInsider.com

The New York Giants have never lost at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. In fact, they won in their last game at the old building in Irving as well, so that’s five in a row at Dallas.

The Cowboys will try to bring an end to this streak when they host the G-Men tonight at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on NBC.

As of this morning, most books had Dallas favored by three or 3.5. The books at three were forcing bettors to pay extra juice (-115, -120 or -125) for backing the Cowboys. The total for ‘over/under’ bets was 49.5 or 50. Gamblers can take Tom Coughlin’s team to win outright for a +150 return (risk $100 to win $150).

For first-half bets, Dallas is a three-point ‘chalk’ at a -105 price (risk $105 to win $100), while the total is 24.5. The Cowboys are a one-half point ‘chalk’ for first-quarter wagers with a total of 9.5 (-130 to the ‘over’).

Dallas hasn’t been to the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, going 8-8 in both of the last two years. Nevertheless, Jerry Jones inked starting quarterback Tony Romo to a long-term contract extension in late March.

Romo had a career-high 4,093 passing yards in 2012, but he also threw a career-high 19 interceptions. He was also sacked 36 times, tying a career-high.

The Cowboys brought in a pair of new guys on defense, veteran safety Will Allen and LB Justin Durant. They drafted Wisconsin center Travis Frederick with their first-round picks. Baylor WR Terrance Williams was selected with a third-round choice.

Dallas released three key members of last year’s defense, including safety Gerald Sensabaugh, DE Marcus Spears and LB Dan Connor. This unit is hoping to improve as it goes from a 3-4 scheme under Rob Ryan to a 4-3 with new defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, who has been in college for several years following his long-time run as Tampa Bay’s DC.

New York finished 9-7 and out of the playoffs last season after it had won the Super Bowl in 2011. Eli Manning threw for 3,948 yards and 26 TDs but he wasn’t happy with his 15 interceptions.

The organization decided to part ways with Ahmad Bradshaw, leaving David Wilson from out of Va. Tech as the starting RB. Wilson averaged 5.0 yards per carry last year.

New York hopes to be more effective offensively with WR Hakeem Nicks 100-percent healthy. Victor Cruz enjoyed another banner campaign in 2012, hauling in 86 receptions for 1,092 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The Giants will be replacing some key parts on defense. DE Osi Umenyiora signed with the Falcons, LB Michael Boley was released and LB Chase Blackburn inked a deal with the Panthers. Also, place-kicker Lawrence Tynes is gone after making a slew of clutch field goal through the years. Dallas will be without starting DT Jay Ratliff, who is ‘out’ indefinitely with a hamstring injury. Ratliff’s back-up Sean Lissemore is ‘questionable’ due to a concussion. Perhaps most important, DE Anthony Spencer is ‘doubtful’ with a knee injury. Spencer had a career-high 11 sacks and a team-high 106 tackles in 2012.

The Cowboys have also lost starting OG Nate Livings, back-up LB Alex Albright and back-up DE Tyrone Crawford to season-ending injuries.

New York is dealing with plenty of injuries, too. Starting center Davis Baas is out until at least late September and starting fullback Henry Hynoski is also ‘out’ tonight. Back-up RB Andre Brown is done for the season, as is starting safety Stevie Brown. Brown’s back-up Will Hill is ‘out’ for the first four games due to a suspension.

The ‘over’ has hit in six of the last eight meetings of this rivalry. The ‘over’ is 4-0 in the last four encounters played in Dallas.

Sportsbook.ag has Dallas with 24/1 odds to win Super Bowl XLVIII, while the G-Men’s future number is 25/1. The offshore website has these odds to win the NFC East: Dallas +200, Washington +200, New York +260 and Philadelphia +500 (risk $100 to win $500).

Gamblers can still get down on season win totals for these teams. Most spots have Dallas with a win total of 8.5 (-130 to the ‘over’), while the Giants are 8.5 (‘over’ -120).