For the second time in three weeks, the New York Giants have a mid-week game, this time heading to Carolina to face the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium Thursday.
New York Giants Vs Carolina Panthers: Betting Odds, Preview and Prediction
The Giants have been beasts against the spread as a road team for the past year and they visit Carolina Thursday asWeek 3 NFL action kicks off.
The Giants were a slight 1.5-point road favorite at most shops tracked by OddsShark.com, a small number for a team that has been dominant against the spread as a road team.
”In their last 10 road games, Big Blue has been a big winner at the sportsbooks going 8-2 ATS,” said Jeff Grant of Sportsbookreview.com.
The Giants have failed to cover both times so far in 2012, but the total is also attracting wagering interest. Scoring is expected to be fast and furious and six of seven career meetings of these teams have played OVER the tota, according to the Giants-Panthers matchup report.
It was a total barn-burner last week in New York when the Giants narrowly edged out a 41-34 win over Tampa Bay as a 7.5-point favorite. The Giants entered the fourth quarter down 27-16, but put up 25 points including three touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the game.
Eli Manning ended the day with video game numbers as he passed for 510 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.
After a disappointing loss to Tampa Bay in their season opener, the Panthers bounced back in a big way with a 35-27 upset win over New Orleans last week as a 3-point underdog.
Newton passed for 253 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 71 yards and another, and the defense held New Orleans’ potent offense to just 27 points and forced two interceptions.
Should we expect anything less than more offensive fireworks this week? Both teams are coming off of huge offensive performances, and six of the last seven games between these two teams have gone OVER the total. The total for this week’s matchup is currently set at 51.5.
While we like the over, we also like the Carolina Panthers here. Carolina has looked solid on defense through the first two weeks of the season while the Giants have looked non-existent. New York's best weapon on defense is its defensive line, but Newton has the ability to get away should the pocket collapse.
Both teams will probably score plenty of points with these two talented quarterbacks at the helm, but Carolina’s defense has looked much better through the first two weeks of the season and should be able to make enough stops to earn Carolina its second straight home upset.
PICK: Carolina +1.5
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