Visiting Giants Favored Over Pats In Preseason Finale

NFL News - September 3rd, 2009 - Written by John

Let's get the obvious story lines out of the way.

The New York Giants travel to New England for a rematch of Super Bowl 42. Check.

Everyone will get a chance to see if Tom Brady's shoulder is okay. Check.

Everyone will get a chance to see if Tom Brady even plays. Check.

Now just focus on what should be a really good preseason football game-if there is such a thing-Thursday night. Both teams get to answer their final questions before the season starts next weekend, and get to do it against a quality opponent. It's New England's final tune-up game before their Monday Night Football showdown against Buffalo, September 14th, and New York's last before they open on the 13th against Washington.

The Giants are three-point favorites in the game, with a money line of +135 on New England, possibly because odds makers don't expect to see much of Brady. If the three-time Super Bowl winner, who injured his shoulder last Friday against the Redskins, plays at all, it will be in limited time. Head coach, Bill Belichick, has always been cautious with his stars in the preseason and, after going an entire season without him, might decide to keep Brady safe and sound on the sidelines. The other quarterbacks will do nothing but benefit from the extra time. Especially after the Patriots cut 2008 third-round pick Kevin O'Connell. Now, Andrew Walter and rookie Brian Hoyer vault up the depth chart and will battle for the back-up job.

Meanwhile, the Patriots have several other tough decisions to make. Coming into the finale, there are 10 total running backs and tight ends on the roster. That will need to be trimmed down. Running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis is one of those backs fighting for a job and will probably need a great game tonight. The Pats are also looking for a spark from Derrick Burgess, whom they acquired from the Raiders early last month. The defensive end, who is owed $3.5 million in 2009, has gone without a sack this preseason. They could use the extra help now that 13-year veteran linebacker Tedy Bruschi announced his retirement.

Meanwhile, the Giants' camp has been stirred up this week when star defensive end, Osi Umenyiora, went AWOL, leaving practice after a tift with defensive coordinator, Bill Sheridan.

“Do I regret it? Absolutely,” Umenyiora said after practice on Tuesday to multiple media outlets. “It was a very, very bad moral decision on my part and an even worse financial decision on my part. So everything is cool now. I talked to who I needed to talk to and apologized to those I had to apologize to."

The Giants are calling it a minor issue, but something they could not afford to become an issue heading into their finale.

It's difficult to tell how the team's are going to fare against their lines. The Giants are 1-2 against the spread, as is New England.

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