Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants (+3.5)
Did no one watch the Giants play the 49ers on Sunday? Did anyone catch the note where Eli Manning threw another five interceptions? Can anyone explain how a rested Dallas team is supposed to come into New Jersey on Sunday Night Football and only need a handful of points to cover the spread?
Maybe it’s Tom Coughlin’s 11-10 record against the Cowboys. Or Jason Garrett’s 1-2 record after a bye. Or the unlikelihood of the Giants having two six-game losing streaks in consecutive years.
Or it’s a trap.
It continues to sound like a running joke to those who dislike the Dallas Cowboys, but their struggles in the second half of their seasons is not without its validity – the last time the Cowboys posted a winning record from Week 8 until the end of the season was 2009. Dallas is prone to disappoint and the Giants are unlikely to continue to slide forever. Their record since Week 8 of each season from 2010 is a more respectable 20-17 overall, including a 7-3 close to a 2013 season that started 0-6.
The extra week of rest for Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo should aid greatly in healing the back injury that kept him out of the team’s Week 9 loss in Arizona, but New York is one of the few teams against which Romo has not necessarily thrived. In his 18 career games against the Giants, he averages approximately 223 yards and less than two touchdowns per game.
The Giants had numerous chances to beat the visiting 49ers on Sunday and continually gave it away. When their hated rivals from Dallas come into town on national television, they will not miss the opportunity to put a dent in their season.
The Giants pull off the upset, winning by a field goal and beating the spread.
