The New York Giants have made some improvements recently but Vegas isn’t about to favor them in their season opener. The Giants are set to take on the Steelers in under a week to kick off the 2020 season, but there’s some question marks around the team that seem to have gotten Pittsburgh favored instead.
The Steelers are favored with a -223 line according to Yahoo Sports. However, some offense is predicted from the game, as the O/U is set at 47.5 points. The point spread is -5.5 for Pittsburgh, so the Giants will beat the spread if they either win or lose within a couple of field goals of their opponent’s score.
Why the Giants aren’t favored in this game
With how many question marks there are around the New York Giants in 2020, it’s no surprise they’re an underdog.
The team is welcoming new head coach Joe Judge, for one. We’ve never seen Judge coach an NFL game before. Or even coach one as an offensive or defensive coordinator. It’s unknown how well Judge will perform, although the offseason has mostly been optimistic in terms of attitude towards the new coach.
The Giants also have some troublesome spots on their defense. They’ve moved on from DeAndre Baker at cornerback and his replacements are still new to the team. Logan Ryan is an improvement, but there’s not much time for him to get used to the Giants before stepping on the field.
Additionally, linebacker David Mayo will miss the game with an injury – after the Giants already cut his main competitor, Ryan Connelly. The team may have some trouble at inside linebacker because of that.
With that being said, the Giants do have a chance to beat the odds here and there’s a lot of other good reasons to be more optimistic about this year than the last. Even if the oddsmakers don’t have as much faith in the team in its current state.