NFL Monday Night Football Betting: St.Louis Rams at New York Giants

Added on Sep 18, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

A pair of 0-1 teams will look to get their first victory of the season as the New York Giants host the St. Louis Rams. The Rams were beaten by the Philadelphia Eagles–and a whole slew of injuries–in Week 1 while the Giants lost to the Washington Redskins in DC.

St. Louis Rams at New York Giants
September 19, 2011 5:35 PM Pacific

The injury situation was the big storyline for the St. Louis Rams in the opening week of the 2011 NFL season and they’ll play a big part in our handicap for this week as well. First the bad news–Stephen Jackson has been downgraded to ‘doubtful’ for this game and every indication is that he won’t play. The good news for the Rams is that quarterback Sam Bradford will play despite a thumb injury. Another name on the injury report may not be as well known to casual fans–that’s Danny Amendola, arguably the team’s best wide receiver who is out indefinitely with an elbow injury.

Rams’ coach Steve Spagnuolo served as the Giants’ defensive coordinator before taking over the Rams job in 2008, so obviously this will have special significance for him. The Giants’ defense is a mess with their secondary being especially hard hit. The offense is in better shape, with wide receiver Hakeem Nicks most recently having his status upgraded to ‘probable’ with a knee injury.

We’ve never been sold on Eli Manning as a quarterback and he looked awful in Week 1. The public is ‘squarely’ on the home team in this matchup and that gives us even more of a reason to take the points with an improving Rams team. They may be banged up, but they play hard for Spagnuolo and will clearly know the importance of this game for him. We don’t expect the same emotional effort from the Giants, who are a team we’ve pegged as being overrated all throughout the preseason. We’ll take the points with the Rams and won’t be surprised if they pull off the outright upset. Best price is currently +6′ but if public money continues to come in on the Giants it could go to +7.

Bet St. Louis Rams +6′ over New York Giants