New York Giants Open Week 9 as Home Underdogs vs Washington

The Giants have not performed admirably in MetLife Stadium, and the oddsmakers aren’t ready to believe that will change against the Commanders.

Oct 27, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA;Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) smiles while leaving the field after the Commanders' game against the Chicago Bears at Northwest Stadium. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The New York Giants have been busy strangely chasing history, with their unrelenting streak of consecutive games as the preliminary underdog on the betting market. That trend continues as the Vegas minds aren’t ready to relinquish it in Week 9.

While the Giants are still a ways off from touching the 43-game mark owned by the St. Louis Rams from 2007-10, they are returning to MetLife Stadium, inching one game closer to that historic number. Per FanDuel’s opening odds, New York (2-6) will welcome the NFC East rival Washington Commanders (6-2) to East Rutherford as a 3.5-point underdog. 

The opening line hands the Giants their 24th consecutive game as the underdog and maintains a lengthy timeline at home, where they’ve gone 16-30-1 in the role since the 2016 season. 

It’s fair to argue the line is shaped more by how the team has recently performed in the confines of MetLife Stadium than how well they or the visiting Commanders have played in the overall stretch. 

In four home contests this season, the Giants have been abysmal on the offensive side of the field. They have only scored one touchdown, which came on the ground from Tyrone Tracy, Jr. in Week 7 against the Bengals, and are averaging 242.8 yards of total production that is being outpaced by nearly 70 yards by their opponents. 

The Giants have looked almost averse to putting points on the board in front of their fans, as they have posted just 19 points in those contests. After the 26-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night, they are averaging 14.6 points per game, a slight increase from Week 8’s number, while allowing opponents to score 21.9 and outmatch them by 62 combined points as the road squad.

Meanwhile, the Commanders’ amazing season continued last Sunday with a miraculous 18-15 win over the Chicago Bears.

The game ended on a Hail Mary attempt, bobbling right into the arms of wide receiver Noah Brown for the 52-yard game-winner. Washington tallied 481 yards of offense and 6.7 yards per play in the victory, which was good for their third game in the last four with that production level. 

The Commanders have a 2-3 record on the road this season, but they still boast a violent offense that has scored 23 or more points in each of their last three road trips. In two of those games against the Bengals and Cardinals, they won by differences of 5 and 28 points, making covering the current spread seem like a walk in the park. 

According to Pro Football Reference, Washington has averaged 29.5 points this year for, the third-best number in the NFL. That number jumps to 30.7 scored on the road with a point differential of +9, but it doesn’t matter where they play, as they have built a powerful offense that can thrash teams in several ways for an immense average of 408.1 yards per contest. 

The more impressive facet has been their rushing attack, which averages 165.8 yards and 5.2 yards per carry, along with 14 touchdowns. Running back Brian Robinson Jr. and quarterback Jayden Daniels form a strong duo, each with over 424 rushing yards and ten combined scores on 175 total attempts, placing Washington in the top 5 for major run categories. 

On the other side, Daniels and his arsenal of talented receivers have lit up opposing defenses behind an improved product from their offensive line that ranks first in team pass block win rate. Washington boasts seven players with at least 111 yards through the skies, and five of them hold a double-digit reception average, giving the Commanders the 10th most yards and fourth-highest yards per catch. 

If the Giants want to dissect the one weakness of this Commanders’ team, they’ll attack their defense, which gives up its fair share of opposing production, especially from the air with the secondary. 

Combine that with the red zone defense that prevailed for New York in the first matchup in Week 2 by holding the rival to 0 for 7 on visits and long boots from Austin Seibert, and this could be a more intriguing meeting than the bookies want to acknowledge. 

Being an underdog to the Commanders is certainly foreign territory to the Giants, a team that has owned the opposing franchise in the 185-game storied history. 

Nonetheless, the past is on their side for now, with New York holding a 108-72-5 series lead that includes six of the last ten games and four of the last six at MetLife Stadium. The last meeting ended 21-18 in favor of the Commanders in September, thanks to seven field goals from Seibert to steal the opening game.

The over/under points total for the latest installment is set at 43.5 points, with the money swaying towards the under, and that is based on the expectation that the Giant's defense will give the Commanders trouble early as they’ve done against their previous opponents. The over has covered six of the latter’s eight games this season but only seen payday in two of the host’s games in that same span.

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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