MNF bets: Maye, Dart square off in prime time
The Giants welcome back Jaxson Dart for a short road trip to Foxborough to take on the AFC East-leading Patriots. These two teams are at opposite ends of the NFL standings, but there's still plenty of intrigue as they're each led by one of the league's brightest young stars at quarterback.
Let's get to our pick against the spread, touchdown scorers, and player props for Monday Night Football.
👉 All odds provided are from theScore Bet
🏈 Pick: Giants (+7.5)
I'll side with the Giants and the points despite knowing the Patriots are a much better team. However, New England will be without rookie left tackle Will Campbell and left guard Jared Wilson. Campbell has been exceptional in his first season, and we've yet to see how the Patriots' offense operates without Drake Maye's blind-side protector.
New York's front seven had high expectations entering the season with talented pass-rushers Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Brian Burns. Thibodeaux is out Monday, but Carter and Burns can be dangerous and could feast on a beat-up Patriots' offensive line.
Although the Giants have 10 losses on the season, a lot of teams have found them tough to beat. They went to overtime against the Lions, lost by seven to the Packers, lost to the Bears by four on the road, and nearly stunned the Broncos in Mile High. I trust that they can hang tough against the Patriots, who failed to cover against other bad teams like the Bengals, Jets, and Falcons in three of the past four weeks.
NFL news editor Brenden Deeg is our "Anytime TD Guy," providing touchdown scorer props all season long.
🙌 Bet: Anytime TD (+260)
Dart returns as New York's starter after a two-game absence due to a concussion. The Giants are likely to be more careful about using him as a runner, but these odds are too good to pass up. He has seven rushing touchdowns in seven starts this season, and he ranks fifth among all quarterbacks in scrambles per game.
🙌 Bet: Anytime TD (+275)
Hollins leads New England in receiving yards over the last three games (200) while playing over 83.3% of the snaps. Even with Kayshon Boutte back in the lineup last week, Hollins led all Patriots wideouts in snaps. He's carved out a crucial role in this offense and will face a Giants defense that's allowed the fourth-most receiving yards to wide receivers.
🏈 Bet: Over 0.5 sacks
As mentioned, the Patriots' offensive line is banged up, and Burns has 13 sacks on the season. That's a bad combination for Maye, who has taken the fourth-most sacks this year (37).
🏈 Bet: Over 1.5 receptions
Douglas has two or more receptions in eight of 11 games this season, so this total seems very low for a player that involved in the offense, especially at plus money. It's definitely possible to pass on the Giants' secondary - it gives up the eighth-most receptions per game (12.42) to wide receivers.
🏈 Bet: Longest rush over 14.5 yards
The Giants give up the most rushes of 20-plus yards in the NFL, allowing one per game on average, and they allow 6.24 yards per carry, which is once again the worst mark in the league. Henderson is as explosive a running back as you'll find and should be able to break one off for at least 15 yards despite injuries to New England's offensive line.
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