New York Giants (0-0, 0-0 ATS) @ Detroit Lions (0-0, 0-0 ATS)
*ATS= against the spread
BETDAQ Line: Detroit -5.5 (47)
Significant Injuries
New York: WR Odell Beckham (out– hamstring), DT Markus Kuhn (out– ankle), OT James Brewer (out– back)
Detroit: S James Ihedigbo (doubtful– neck), S Don Carey (out– hamstring)
Recent Trends
New York is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games
New York is 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 September games
Detroit is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 Week 1 games
Detroit is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 home games
The road team is 6-0 ATS in the last 6 meetings between these 2 teams
The OVER is 4-1 in New York’s last 5 Week 1 games
The UNDER is 14-4 in New York’s last 18 road games
The UNDER is 7-0 in Detroit’s last 7 Monday night games
Three reasons to back New York
1. The Lions have been overrated and overvalued for two years and counting, and it’s easy to see why: they have big-name players on both sides of the ball and their offense puts up flashy numbers. However, they play losing football, and that toxic combination (name players/big numbers + losing football) has resulted in crushing losses for anyone foolish enough to back them consistently, as they’re a dismal 12-27 ATS in their last 39 games.
2. Detroit has one of the league’s worst secondaries and they’ll be even worse than usual in this game thanks to injuries to safeties James Idhedigbo and Don Carey that have them listed as “doubtful” and “out” respectively. The strength of the New York offense, of course, is their passing attack.
3. The Giants have a better defense than people realize; they finished 8th in the league in total defense last season and they added some quality veterans in the offseason, guys like Jameel McClain and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. They may not be on the Seahawks/Panthers/49ers level, but they’re definitely in the next tier.
Three reasons to back Detroit
1. The Lions have one of the league’s better offenses, a unit that ranked 6th overall and 3rd in passing offense last year. They have a good young quarterback in Matthew Stafford and the NFL’s best receiver, Calvin Johnson.
2. Detroit traditionally plays well in Week 1, covering in 8 of their last 11 attempts, and the Giants have been a terrible early-season team recently, going 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 September games. Does the fact that this game is in Detroit exaggerate those tendencies? It sure seems like it could…
3. Did you see the Giants play at all in the preseason? They were absolutely atrocious on offense, sputtering repeatedly while trying to execute new coordinator Ben McAdoo’s system. Come to think of it, they were pretty bad on offense in 2013 as well, ranking 28th in points scored and 31st in turnover differential. How are they going to come into Detroit and keep up with the high-flying Lions?
Prediction
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