The New York Giants, who are, according to the NFL betting spread, 4½-point home dogs against the Dallas Cowboys, are, reportedly, going to start Eli Manning under center, following the long anticipated axing of former head coach Ben McAdoo (and general manager Jerry Reese), which was a long time coming but nevertheless came a little too late. For all intents and purposes, McAdoo’s last official act as Giants coach was ending Manning’s streak of 210 consecutive starts.
The #NYGiants have dismissed Coach Ben McAdoo and GM Jerry Reese.
DETAILS: https://t.co/RInfFZJWns pic.twitter.com/9GC2Me36B4— New York Giants (@Giants) December 4, 2017
- Date: Sunday, 10th December
- Time: 1:05 PM
- Venue: MetLife Stadium
Online Sportsbook NFL odds:
Cowboys -4½ (-110) 41½ (-110)
Giants +4½ (-110) 41½ (-110)
Esteban the Spaniard, happy and unlucky
Giants co-owner John Mara neither confirmed nor denied that Manning, who at 37 is not about to start another streak, would start against the Cowboys but instead gave interim coach, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, final say on the matter. Ex coach Ben McAdoo said, prior to joining the unemployment line, that Geno Smith, who went 21 of 34 passes for 212 yards, 1 touchdown and two lost fumbles in Sunday’s 17-24 loss to the Raiders, had done nothing to prevent himself from starting again, but Spagnuolo may not necessarily concur with that assessment, especially coming as it does from a guy who doesn’t even have a job. The Giants did get one victory on Sunday, though, that is, of course, in addition to the ATS win, and they now hold the second spot in the 2018 NFL Draft order based on a better strength of schedule. The Giants are expected to bid for a rookie QB, so any way you look at it, Manning’s days in New York are numbered, but hopefully, next time around, they will handle things with a little more tact and class. The Giants are 4-1-1 against the NFL betting spread in their last six games versus the Cowboys.
The Cowboys do good, but can they do well?
There is no denying that the Dallas Cowboys are, with the possible exception of Ezekiel Elliott, decent human beings, but they haven’t been decent football players since Elliott started finally serving his suspension. Having said that, they did snap a three-game SU and ATS losing streak with a 38-14 blowout of the Redskins on Sunday, which got them out of the red and allows them to keep the playoffs a priority over the draft, though they’re historically due for postseason without the ‘post’ part. Dallas has not made the playoffs in back-to-back years since 2006-07, and they can’t afford to make mistakes if they want to snap that particular streak. The good news is that one of the few teams more prone to making mistakes than the Cowboys is precisely the Giants. Dallas won six of their last nine meetings with the Blue Boys, including their season-opener, but have covered the NFL betting spread in just four of their last nine visits to MetLife Stadium to face the Giants. The Cowboys need to hang in there at least till Christmas Eve, when Zeke will presumably return to save them.