New York Giants at Denver Broncos Odds

Opening Line: Giants -6 1/2/Broncos +6 1/2 Over/under: 42

Time: Thursday, Nov. 26th, 8:20PM Eastern, NFL Network

by Marasoft.com Staff

Two teams that got off to great starts this season, but have struggled since, hook up for a Thanksgiving night-cap when the New York Giants visit Denver to try and buck the Broncos Thursday night.

The bigger off-shore NFL betting outlets opened this game with the Giants favored by anywhere from five to seven points. But as of Tuesday afternoon New York was listed at either -6 or -6 ½ almost everywhere.

The G-Men are also listed at right around -300 on most betting moneylines, with the Broncos getting +250 as home dogs.

And the total opened at 42 at most places, and has held steady in early wagering action.

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New York opened this season by winning its first five games, then lost four straight. Last week, though, the Giants got back on the winning track, although they blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead and had to go to overtime before beating Atlanta 34-31.

So the Giants, at 6-4, are tied with the Eagles, one game behind first-place Dallas in the NFC East. And New York and Philly are tied with Green Bay in the battle for the two NFC Wild Card playoff berths.

Denver, after a 6-0 start under new head coach McDaniels, has hit the skids, and lost four straight, after falling at home Sunday 32-3 to San Diego. The Broncos have scored a total of 37 points in those four consecutive losses, and have been outgained and outrushed by considerable margins in all four games. So Denver now trails the first-place Chargers by a game in the AFC West. And the Broncs are tied with Pittsburgh and Jacksonville in the race for the two AFC Wild Card spots.

Statistically speaking, New York is outgaining opponents this season by a 386-280 YPG margin, and outrushing foes 134-104.

Denver, meanwhile, is outgaining opponents 323-298, but getting outrushed 115-112.

Also,while the Giants rank second in the league in average time-of-possession at 33:56, the Broncos rank 22nd at 28:42.

Giants QB Eli Manning has completed 61% of his passes this season for 7.8 YPA, with 18 touchdown passes and nine interceptions, for a 92.2 passing rating.

Denver quarterback Kyle Orton performed fairly well before suffering a sprained ankle a couple of weeks ago, and he didn't start last week's loss vs. San Diego. But replacement Chris Simms was terrible, so Orton got back in the game, albeit to little avail. On the season, the former Purdue Boilermaker has hit on 62% of his throws for 7.0 YPA, an 11/5 TD/INT ratio, and an 87.8 rating.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Orton is listed as probable for Thursday night's game.

Also on the injury front, New York's top two rushers, Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, are both a bit banged up. And while Bradshaw's chances of playing Thursday are better than Jacobs', bettors will want to keep an eye out for updates on their situations.

These two teams have played four common opponents so far this season. The Giants beat Washington 23-17, pushing as six-point home favorites back in week 1, while the Broncos lost in DC 27-17 as 3 1/2-point road chalk two weeks ago; New York won at Dallas 33-31 as three-point road dogs in week 2, while Denver beat the Cowboys 17-10 as one-point home dogs in week 4; The G-Men pounded Oakland 44-7 as 16-point home faves in week 5, while the Broncs beat the Raiders 23-3 as one-point road favorites in week 3; and while the Giants lost to San Diego 21-20 two weeks ago as five-point home chalk, Denver split its season series with the Chargers, winning 34-23 as 3 1/2-point road dogs in week 6, but losing last week, as mentioned above, 32-3 as 6 1/2-point home dogs.

New York has gone 6-3-1 on the totals so far this season, as Giants games have averaged a healthy 50 points per.

Denver, on the other hand, is 2-8 on the totals this year, as Broncos games have averaged just 35 points.

These two teams last met four seasons ago, when the Giants beat Denver 24-23 in New Jersey.

After going 2-5 straight up and 3-4 vs. the pointspreads last week, NFL home underdogs are 18-34 SU this season, and 24-28 ATS.

The Giants are rated at 23.9 on the updated Sagarin PURE POINTS rankings at USAToday.com, the Broncos at 20.7. Factoring in Sagarin's updated NFL home-field advantage figure of 1.7, and New York is a 1 1/2-point road fave on the Sagarin betting line.

The Marasoft Pick: Denver +6.5