Monday Night Football Preview: New York Giants at New Orleans Saints

Frank Doyle expects a busy night for the scoreboard operator when the Giants visit the Saints on Monday Night Football tonight!

They were talking about Eli Manning for MVP at the start of November. Now the Giants have dropped two straight, are in danger of ceding the NFC East to the Cowboys and are underdogs by more than a touchdown tonight. That’s how quickly things can change in professional football.

How has it happened? Well, it’s not all Eli’s fault that the Giants are losing, just like it wasn’t because of him alone that they were winning. There are a lot of players on a football team, and right now they’re not helping each other.

To be more specific, the Giants offensive line is struggling to establish the run. The Giants have the worst running game in the League. They’re thirty-second out of thirty-two teams in running the ball, at a miserable average of 3.2 yards a clip.

All reasons why the Giants find themselves a +7.5 sports betting underdog tonight at New Orleans. The fact they’re playing the Saints is a contributing factor too.

The Saints offensive line is operating better than the Giants’. Drew Brees is the least hit quarterback in the League, and he’s on pace to break Dan Marino’s storied single season passing record that’s stood for twenty-seven years.

Marino threw for 5,084 yards in 1984, on his way to leading the Dolphins to a 14-2 record and the AFC Championship. Brees is on pace for 5,322, a staggering number even in this passing era.

The Giants defensive line has shown the same strain as the offense. After a barnstorming start to the season the Giants rush hasn’t been able to bring the heat and if Drew Brees can play quarterback from what feels like the comfort of his armchair back home, the Giants will be cut to pieces tonight.

The Giants need to keep Brees off the field if they hope to cover the number. Jean Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck have to get after Brees while the Saints are on offense, and Eli Manning and the offense have to eat up time and rack up points while they have possession.

Of course, eating up time and racking up points is easier when you have an operational running game. But Eli has been finding his receivers downfield and the Saints defense can be porous.

The total is set at 51.5 points, the second-highest of the week – Green Bay at Detroit was higher, 56.5, at Thanksgiving. Whatever else happens in the game, the over looks a good bet here.

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