The New York Giants have been one of the more unpleasant surprises in the National Football League this season. It is only by the good graces of the rest of the losing teams in the NFC East that they have any shot at all to make the playoffs. On Thursday night the Giants will line up against the Chicago Bears in a game that will get underway at 8:25 PM ET at Soldier Field in Chicago.
The Bears won their first three games of the season, but now have lost their last two. The Giants have lost all five games, with four of them coming by 15 points or more.
In the pro football odds that have been established on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, the Bears are favored by a touchdown:
Pro Football Odds Courtesy of BetAnySports
Chicago Bears -7.5 -105
New York Giants +7.5 -115
Over 46.5 Points -110
Under 46.5 Points -110
It is unbelievable that the Giants are not completely out of the race in the NFC East, but the fact is that they are only two games behind Dallas and Philadelphia who are 2-3. But that doesn’t mean this season hasn’t been a nightmare for them.
At the root of the Giants’ problems is their propensity to commit mistakes. And Eli Manning is the guy under fire. Manning started out giving the ball away on opening night against Dallas and he hasn’t stopped since. He has been intercepted twelve times and lost two fumbles. That’s 14 giveaways, and he has been sacked 15 times as well. At home against Philadelphia last week the floodgates opened,. as Manning threw three interceptions in the fourth quarter. That’s three times more picks than his brother has thrown in the first five games.
The Bears (-335 to win the game straight-up at BetAnySports) have been employing a new offensive system this season, and Jay Cutler is one of those quarterbacks who has seemingly been through a new offensive approach every season. Marc Trestman came to the head coaching job as someone who was cerebral in nature, and Cutler had made remarks in the pre-season about how difficult an adjustment time it might be. Well, the jury is still out; Cutler led comebacks in the first two games of the season, as Chicago beat Cincinnati and Minnesota, and there was a rather easy one against Pittsburgh that followed. But consecutive losses to the Lions and Saints have pushed this team back to 3-2. And Cutler has been generous. Yes, he has ten TD passes. But he has also committed nine turnovers (six INT’s, three fumbles). How patient will Trestman be with all this?
The good news is that Cutler has found a target to complement Brandon Marshall. Alshon Jeffery, who came out of Steve Spurrier’s program at South Carolina, set a Bears record with 218 yards receiving last week against New Orleans, and he’s averaging over 15 yards a catch. Cutler’s had more time to throw this year, as his teammates have allowed “only” nine sacks. One of the many huge disappointments in this Giants season is the team’s lack of a pass rush, as they have just five sacks.
One of the other things that has been frustrating about the Giants (the +275 underdog in the NFL money line at BetAnySports) is that they can’t get their defense off the field. They have yielded 49.4% on third down conversions, as well as 36 points a game. But the interesting thing is that they have only surrendered 5.4 yards a play, which is actually less than the bears’ 6.0 figure.
Bet the Thursday night NFL game, and a whole lot more, at BetAnySports!