NFL Opening Game - Cowboys vs Giants Preview/Betting View

Game: Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants 9/5/12 at 8:30am

Spread: Giants -4 (Caesars offering -3 as of 8/31)

Analysis:  The NFL opens the season with a NFC East match-up as the defending Superbowl Champion New York Giants host the Dallas Cowboys.  There is a clear mismatch here with the Giants tenacious D-Line and Cowboys terrible O-Line so Romo likely to be sacked and turn the ball over.  Another factor in play is that Jason Witten may not play and Miles Austin still not up to speed with his hamstring, so Romo's weapons are minimal.  However, although the Giants D is opportunistic it did rank 27th in the NFL in yards allowed and Demarco Murray should be able to keep things close.  The Cowboys should also be fairly stout on D with Rob Ryan running the show for the 2nd year, but Eli has the weapons in Cruz and Nicks to move the ball.  Dallas has improved significantly on pass D with the rookie Claiborne manning the corner and should be a nice match-up to watch with Nicks on the outside, although other stud corner Jenkins likely out this game.  The Giants have won 4 of the last 5 meetings and only one of those wins was by less than 6 points.  Another wildcard in this game, and possibly in a lot of games are these terrible replacement refs, which I truly hope do not impact games.

Line Movement: Giants -3 on 8/22 moved to -4 on 8/27 - Public Betting Giants 58% with Spread

Bet Trends:  The Cowboys are 0-6 ATS last 6 vs. NFC East opponents while the Giants are 4-0 ATS last 4 against NFC East opponents.  However, the Underdog is 5-1 ATS the last 6 when these two teams meet.  The Giants are also 6-0 ATS their last 6 overall.  The Over-Under is at 46.5 and the Over is 5-1 the last 6 meetings although since it is Week 1 the Defenses are usually much more ready than the Offenses.

The Pick:  Giants -4 @ 2 Units

Predicted Score: New York Giants 20 / Dallas Cowboys 13