Giants Country

Giants Open as Favorites vs. Cardinals

Despite their ugly Sunday night loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the odds makers haven't given up on the Giants just yet.

Patricia Traina

Giants Open as Favorites vs. Cardinals
Giants Open as Favorites vs. Cardinals /
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Neither rain nor an ugly loss to the Dallas Cowboys on national television have dampened the odds makers' confidence in the New York Giants this Sunday when they visit the Arizona Cardinals.

According to the latest odds from Fanduel, the Giants (0-1) are a six-point favorite over the Cardinals (0-1), who, from a scoring perspective, fared a lot better than the Giants did, losing to the Washington Commanders 20-16 last weekend after giving up ten unanswered points to the Commanders int he fourth quarter.

So why favor the Giants in this one? The Cardinals are in Year 1 of the Jonathan Gannon-Monti Ossenfort era, which, unlike the Giants from a year ago when they were in Year 1 of the Joe SChoen-Brian Daboll era, saw Gannon and Ossenfort inherit a team that lacked a solid foundation as what the Giants handed to Schoen and Daboll.

The Cardinals right now have major question marks at just about every position on their ball club, none bigger than at quarterback, where Gannon has handed the keys to Joshua Dobbs, a four-year NFL veteran who is on his fourth NFL team after being acquired by trade from the Browns (along with a seventh-round pick in 2024) in exchange for a 2024 fifth-round draft pick.

Dobbs, who is 0-3 as a starting quarterback, is still relatively inexperienced and is largely thought to be a placeholder for the Cardinals until Kyler Murray returns from injury and until the Cardinals can address the position in the draft next year.

But despite the point spread, the Giants have issues, none bigger than on their offensive line, a unit that will try to slow down an Arizona pass rush that recorded six sacks against Washington quarterback Sam Howell last week. 

Making matters worse is that the Giants are waiting to see if left tackle Andrew Thomas will be good to go after straining his hamstring trying to chase down the blocked field goal returned for a touchdown in the first quarter of last week's loss to the Cowboys.

We'll see if the spread changes throughout the rest of the week, but the hope is the Giants reward the odds makers' faith in them with a more fundamentally sound win on Sunday.

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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