Their promising start to the season has been doused by three straight losses and the New York Giants find themselves in the cellar of the NFC East after a fruitless trip through the top of the NFC North. Now, the Giants return home to face another struggling team. Following consecutive home losses, the Baltimore Ravens will welcome a trip to the Meadowlands and one of the clubs will end its slide in this Week 6 matchup.
This matchup in Week 6 of the regular season will take place on Sunday, October 16, 2016, at MetLife Stadium.
Odds Analysis
With the Giants playing the Sunday night game and losing in Green Bay, the line and total have yet to hit the board. We have two evenly matched teams and New York will likely get the 3-point line for having home field advantage. Expect the total to show up in the 44-point range, which will be a gift for under bettors.
Injury Report
Steve Smith Sr. – The Ravens leading receiver left Sunday’s game with an ankle injury and his status is uncertain. Any missed time will severely impact Baltimore’s offense, which ranks 23rd in scoring and total yards per game, and 22nd in passing yards per game. Smith remains an explosive weapon and sure-handed option for Joe Flacco.
Rashad Jennings – Has missed the last three games with a thumb injury and the Giants’ running game has been crippled with his absence. Over the past two games, the Giants have managed just 121 yards on the ground, only 19 more than Jennings had accumulated by himself before going down with his injury.
Matchup to Watch
The Giants amassed just 43 yards on the ground in Sunday’s loss to the Packers, down from the 78 they had the previous week against Minnesota. Without Jennings and Shane Vereen, the ground game has suffered, and it didn’t help that they faced two of the best run defenses in the league. Jennings is close to returning, which should help take some of the pressure off Eli Manning and his receivers. But the Giants need to do something or another loss is staring them in the face. The Giants likely won’t have an easier time trying to penetrate the fourth-ranked run defense of the Ravens, who allow just 76 yards per game on the ground.
New York’s inability to run the football has seriously hampered their efforts to score points. Manning was forced to throw 45 passes against the Vikings and completed only 25 for 261 yards. He didn’t reach the endzone and the Giants were held to 10 points. Manning threw 35 passes on Sunday and failed to crack the 200-yard mark. He did toss a late touchdown pass making the final score a bit more respectable, but the 16 points are well below what this team should be scoring. If the Ravens are able to shut down the run, the Giants have shown that they can’t do it all through the air.
Free ATS Pick
The Giants shouldn’t have such a difficult time scoring points with all the weapons they have. But it’s been a struggle and the finger is pointing directly at Manning. Sure, OBJ had his outbursts and was taken out of games mentally. But the guy can catch the football if it’s thrown his way. Victor Cruz and Sterling Shepard are threats but have been minor pieces. Without a run game, opposing defenses key on the pass and have been able to thwart any type of attack the Giants have come up with.
After facing the Vikings and Packers on the road, getting back home should be a relief. But waiting for them is the Ravens and their fierce defense. It won’t get an easier for Big Blue to dent the board against Baltimore. The Ravens have struggled to score also, and I don’t see anything different coming out of this one. Points will be at a premium and we could see plenty of field goals with Baltimore’s Justin Tucker being the difference. The under looks like the right choice in a low-scoring Ravens victory.
NFL Odds: Ravens 20, Giants 17
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