Giants vs. Lions Free Pick
DETROIT, MI (ATS Consultants) – The Lions will seek revenge tonight against the Giants in the first matchup of NFL’s “Monday Night Football” tonight at 7:10PM ET.
According to oddsmakers from online sports book Bovada.lv, the Lions are 4.5-point home favorites over the visiting Giants, while the total is currently sitting at 45 points. Detroit opened as 3.5-point favorites before the line was bet up, while the total opened at 45.5 before being bet up to 47 and then settling in at 45 a few hours before kickoff.
The Giants thought the hire of Ben McAdoo as offensive coordinator would fix a lot of the issues that they had a year ago under former play-caller Kevin Gilbride. Instead, Eli Manning had a disastrous preseason and the chatter of him declining has grown louder. If the offense can’t get things figured out, it’ll put even more pressure on a defense that has question marks at linebacker and in the secondary. Despite winning two Super Bowls in the last decade, the Giants don’t have the look of a contender, although it’s early.
The Lions were tired of falling short under former head coach Jim Schwartz, so they hired a man in Jim Caldwell that, with a ton of help of Peyton Manning, took the Colts to the Super Bowl in 2009. The offense should once again be potent thanks to Calvin Johnson, Matthew Stafford, Reggie Bush and the additions of Golden Tate and rookie Eric Ebron, but the defense has a few holes. The front four – Ndamukong Suh, Jason Jones, C.J. Mosley and Ziggy Ansah – is solid, but the secondary has massive question marks. If Rashean Mathis and Darius Slay overachieve and the depth isn’t tested more than it already has, the Lions could make a playoff run this season.
NFL FREE PICK: Take the over. According to latest NFL trends, the over is 6-1 in the Lions’ last seven games in Week 1, 7-3-1 in their last 11 games in September and 4-1 in the Giants’ last five games in Week 1. Detroit’s offense should exploit a New York defense that has issues in its back seven, while the Giants’ offense can’t be any worse than what it showed in preseason. Turnovers should also contribute to the combined score sailing over the total tonight.
2014 NFL WEEK 1 FREE PICK: GIANTS/LIONS OVER 45
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