NFL FOOTBALL BETTING PREDICTION - NEW YORK GIANTS @ ARIZONA CARDINALS

NFL Football

2011-10-02 - New York Giants at Arizona Cardinals

A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown

New York Giants @ Arizona Cardinals
United States: NFL Football Week 4
Sunday 2 October 2011 - Kick Off 4:15pm ET
9:15pm (British Standard Time)

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Preview

The New York Giants (2-1) come into this game as the leading team in the NFC East, and have caused one or two surprises considering they had one of the longest injury lists BEFORE the season began. They visit the desert to take on the Arizona Cardinals (1-2) who have been disappointing so far in the Kevin Kolb era.

Eli Manning had a tough start to the season which once again had people questioning whether he is as good a QB as his brother Peyton or whether he is as good as the elite QBs in the NFL. However, he was brilliant in the win against the Philadelphia Eagles last week and will be backed up with the return of Mario Manningham this week.

The Offensive Line have struggled to keep Manning off his backside in the opening 3 weeks of the season, but Brandon Jacobs and Ahmed Bradshaw have been able to find holes and if they can continue to do that, Manning should be able to take advantage of the Cardinals' Secondary.

Arizona rank at 25th in the NFL in terms of Pass Defense, yet Manning is far better than QBs Rex Grossman and Tavaris Jackson while rookie Cam Newton had a field day against Arizona here in Phoenix.

Kevin Kolb has struggled in his time at Arizona, although he still has the backing of Ken Whisenhunt who accepts the former Eagle is being asked to learn a new Offense in a short amount of time. This is a tough match up for the Cardinals as they Offensive Line has really struggled to give Kolb time and they now face a Giants team that is coming in off a game where they brutalised the Eagles O-Line.

To make matters that much worse for Arizona, Osi Umenyiora is set to return to the Giants this week even though New York have not missed a beat in his absence.

You have to think the Giants will be able to let their Defensive Ends loose on Kolb as they have defended the run very well through the first 3 weeks of the season so you have to expect that Beanie Wells will not be a big factor.

Head to Head

The Giants won their last meeting here in Arizona against the Cardinals in 2008, winning by 8 points here.

However, it was Arizona who won their last meeting in 2009 in New York.

The road team is 7-3 against the spread in the last 10 meetings in the series.

Both teams are 2-1 against the spread this season.

Other Interesting Notes

Arizona are 7-2 against the spread in their last 9 games as the home underdog.

Ken Whisenhunt is 5-2 against the spread in the last 7 games where his team has lost as a favourite and then is the underdog the following game.

The Giants are 28-13 against the spread in their last 41 road games.

They are 14-6 against the spread in their last 20 games as the road favourite.

They are 7-2 against the spread in their last 9 games as the road underdog of 3 points or less.

81% of the wagers made in Vegas have been on the New York Giants.

Prediction

I am going to favour the New York Giants to win and cover the spread because I think they are a little underrated here.

First, I think the Giants are playing really well at the moment and Eli Manning is making some nice plays.

Second, I think New York is better on both sides of the ball than Arizona and have more weapons to make a difference here.

Third, the Giants seem to be consistently underrated on the road and this looks like another occasion.


My biggest worry is that New York could suffer a letdown after winning a huge game against Philadelphia last week, while playing back to back road games is tough on any team, particularly when they have to travel across the country to play.

However, the spread seems to underrate a decent Giants team so has to be worth playing.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :

I'll back the New York Giants -1 Point @ 1.95