Struggling Giants Underdogs Against Philly

NFL News - October 27th, 2009 - Written by John

After starting the year on a torrid 4-0 pace, the New York Giants all the sudden look vulnerable in losses to two good NFC teams. They try to get back in the NFC East picture against their rivals in a place that they have performed well against the spread.

The Giants are a mere 7-11 against the Philadelphia Eagles since 2001, but almost every game has been close, giving them a 5-3 record ATS. When it's at Philadelphia, the numbers look even better, going 3-1 ATS at Lincoln Financial Field, and 4-0 ATS when they're the underdog.

They receive that underdog stigma on Sunday, when the Eagles will be surrendering three points at the Linc. The over/under is 44 1/2, according to BetUS Sportsbook. The Eagles are 0-4 ATS when favored against the Giants, and had a hard time pulling away against the Washington Redskins a week ago.

Despite scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter, the Eagles never hit the gas and won by a closer-than-expected 27-17. They did beat the nine-point spread, however, and are 4-2 ATS this season. Donovan McNabb has produced mixed results since returning from a broken rib. He missed two weeks before coming back in Week Five, where he threw for 264 yards against the Buccaneers. But he was harrassed by the Oakland Raiders the following week, being sacked six times in a miserable 13-9 loss. In that game, McNabb threw for 269 yards but didn't have a score.

The running game wasn't much better. The combination of Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy only produced 67 rushing yards in the loss and the duo only has 409 rushing yards this season, the fewest among any duo, both having 30 carries, in the league.

McCoy will likely get his second-career start this year after Westbrook suffered a concussion against Washington. In his other start, he ran for 84 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Giants started the 2009 NFL Season as one of the top teams in all of the NFL with the no. 1-ranked defense heading into a Week Six game against New Orleans. Fourty-eight points later, pundits began to wonder if their were even the best team in their conference (the answer is a resounding no) , and Eli Manning hasn't looked the same since. He still has 1,633 yards passing and 12 touchdowns, and despite a loss last week to the Cardinals, New York still boasts an array of young talent. Wide receivers Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks have impressed. At one point of the season, Smith actually led the league in receiving yards and is now third with 594. Nicks has scored a touchdown in four-straight games. Mario Manningham also has four touchdown catches.

The defense is still pretty good after falling back to sixth and is no. 5 against the pass.

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