New York Giants Favored By 6 1/2 Over Denver Broncos

NFL News - November 23rd, 2009 - Written by John

Droves of fans headed for the exits early in the third quarter of last Sunday's loss to the San Diego Chargers, prompting a dose of soul-searching on the Denver Broncos sideline. A sign of just how far they've fallen was right in front of them as less than half the stadium remained filled with over 20 minutes still to play.

After winning the first six games of the season, the Denver Broncos have lost four-straight, including a crushing 34-3 loss to the San Diego Chargers that might have cost the division. To get those fans back, it will take a similar streak in the reverse, starting with this Thursday when the Broncos host the New York Giants in the late Thanksgiving game.

The recent slide has returned Denver to underdog status, and they will receive 6 1/2 points against the New York Giants, with an over/under of 42 according to BetUS.

The team's have accounted for just two combined wins over the last five weeks. The Broncos have played over in 17 of their last 19 games against NFC East teams.

And it seems the Broncos have caught New York at a bad time. Eli Manning snapped a rough streak with a career-high 384 passing yards last week against the Atlanta Falcons. He threw three touchdowns and engineered a winning drive in overtime that resulted in a Lawrence Tynes field goal. Just one game out of the division, New York has a monster game looming next week against the Dallas Cowboys, who also play on Thursday. By all accounts that match-up could win them the NFC East, a welcomed turnaround after losing four-straight, but those plans would be on hold with a disappointing performance against the Broncos.

Mario Manningham gobbled up his second-highest receiving total against the Falcons with 126 yards on six catches. He is now closing in on Steve Smith for the team lead with 617 yards, and is one of three wideouts with at least 450 yards. He, Smith, Manningham and Kevin Boss each average 12 yards or more per catch.

The running game has been equally effective. Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw have combined for 1,205 yards and seven touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Denver's demise has been in part because of Kyle Orton's uncertain health. He was knocked out of the game against the Washington Redskins, which his team eventually lost, and then was asked to salvage what he could against the Chargers. He wasn't sterling in either of those games, but still has better than a 2-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and is the league's 14th-rated passer.

Our NFL Week 12 Betting Odds have all the information you need to place an informed bet on this game or any others during week 12 of this 2009 NFL season.