First The Undertaker, and now Eli Manning. The New York Giants are nine-point underdogs against the Raiders which is not surprising sports betting fans at all considering the Blue Boys’ 2-9 record. What is indeed surprising, as well as shocking, sickening, and revolting is the fact that the Giants plant to start QB Geno Smith in place of Eli Manning, thus effectively ending the latter’s streak of 210 consecutive regular season starts, second all-time among quarterbacks behind Brett Favre’s 297.
‘Big Blue Shame On You’ billboards directed at Giants spotted on New Jersey highways – @nick_parco https://t.co/iSAZ5PDK8S pic.twitter.com/f9aoR9YmBv
— NY Daily News Sports (@NYDNSports) November 30, 2017
- Date: Sunday, 3rd December
- Time: 4:30 PM
- Venue: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
- Sportsbook NFL betting spread:
Giants +9 (-117) 41½ (-105) +296
Raiders -9 (-103) 41½ (-115) -370
Eli, Eli, why have you forsaken him?
Brother Eli has started every Giants game since November 21, 2004, but now it looks like the time has come for him to have his own Kurt Warner moment. “Don’t you think it’s time that we start to get a look at these other quarterbacks at some point during the games,” co-owner John Mara asked general manager Jerry Reese, who presumably relayed the question (or was it a question?) to head coach Ben McAdoo, who then had the brilliant idea (well, except for the brilliant part) of continuing to start Manning to keep the straight going and have Smith, and possibly Davis Webb, play in the second half, an idea that Manning rightfully nixed. “My feeling is that if you are going to play the other guys, play them. Starting just to keep the streak going and knowing you won’t finish the game and have a chance to win it is pointless to me, and it tarnishes the streak,” the QB said. The Giants are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games against AFC teams, 1-4 ATS in their last five overall, and 0-4 against the sportsbook NFL odds spread in their last four playing a team with a losing record.
Disappointing Raiders could still make an appointment with the playoffs
The Raiders could still reach the postseason, even in spite of themselves. Oakland snapped a three-game ATS skid with a 21-14 win over Denver on Sunday, and the Raiders’ next two opponents, including, of course, their foe du jour the Giants, are, to a lesser or greater extent, as far gone to the dogs as the Broncos are. The timing could not be better for Oakland to string together consecutive wins for the first time since starting the season 2-0. The Raiders are 11-3 SU in their last 14 games as chalk but 1-4 ATS in their last five games after a win. The sportsbook NFL odds total has gone over in the last three straight meetings between these two teams, but their last encounter occurred in 2005. This year, the Raiders have failed to score more than 10 points three times, while the Giants have scored 22 total points in the last two weeks, as well as lost by a margin of 10 or more points in their past three road games, and averaged just 13.7 points per game in that stretch.