The New York Giants visit Arrowhead Stadium to take on the struggling Kansas City Chiefs in the Week 8 edition of Monday Night Football.
New York is coming off a 25-3 victory over the Carolina Panthers in a win that ended a two-game losing skid. The Giants are 2-5 on the season and in 3rd place in the NFC East, four games behind the Dallas Cowboys.
On the other hand, the Chiefs head home after getting blown out by the Tennessee Titans 27-3 in their Week 7 assignment. Kansas City has lost by double digits for the second time in three weeks and the Chiefs are just 3-4 on the season and in the bottom of the AFC West division that they were supposed to lord over.
The Giants have won five out of the last seven meetings between these two teams, including a 12-9 home win in their last meeting last November 19, 2017.
New York Giants
The Giants won last week even if they played without both superstars running back Saquon Barkley and wide receiver Kenny Golladay. Those two are out again this week along with WR Sterling Shepard and TE Even Engram.
Daniel Jones threw for 203 yards with one touchdown while running for 28 yards against the Panthers while Devontae Booker rushed for 51 yards on 14 carries with one touchdown but it was the Giants defense that got the job done. New York held Carolina to 173 total yards and only 11 first downs. Meanwhile, the Giants’ pass rush produced six sacks including 2.5 sacks by rookie Azeez Ojulari.
New York’s passing game has produced 260.6 yards per game but that’s mainly because they’ve been playing catch-up in most of their games. The Giants are averaging 91.7 rushing yards per game while their defense is allowing 125.6 rushing yards per contest and 275.7 passing yards per outing.
Kansas City Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes hasn’t been himself as of late. The former MVP has thrown for a total of 2,092 passing yards with 18 touchdowns this season. However, he has also nine interceptions and four fumbles on the season. Without Clyde Edwards-Helaire last week, Mahomes was Kansas City’s leading rusher with 35 rushing yards and that’s not going to do the job for Andy Reid.
Mahomes threw for 206 yards with one interception and without a touchdown last week in the loss to the Titans. The vaunted Kansas City Chiefs offense went scoreless in the first half and was able to score only 3 points the entire game. Defensively, they limited the Titans to just 103 rushing yards but allowed Ryan Tannehill to pass for 266 yards.
The Kansas City defense has allowed 404.6 yards per game this season including 276 yards through the air. They have also been terrible against the run, giving up 128.9 rushing yards per game. If their defense is to get better, they need DT Chis Jones and S Tyran Mathieu to play on Monday night but that remains to be seen as both are dealing with their respective injuries
Who Wins?
The Giants are 3-8 SU in their last 11 games played. They are just 1-2 SU in three road games played this season, and 1-4 SU in their last five Week 8 games.
The Chiefs are 14-6 SU in their last 20 games played. Kansas City is just 1-2 SU in three home games played this season, but 9-1 SU in their last nine games against the NFC, and 9-2 SU in their last 11 games against the NFC East division.
Please Note
The Giants weren’t offensively spectacular the last time out but their defense put together an outstanding effort against the Panthers, holding Carolina to just 173 total yards, including just 56 yards on the ground, 11 first downs, and just 2.6 yards per play.
Meanwhile, Mahomes should be okay after last week’s scary hit but their defense was terrible, giving up 24 first downs and allowing the Titans to convert on 8 out of 12 third-down attempts.
That said, I think the Chiefs are going to be fine here because the Giants aren’t that good offensively to take advantage of KC’s defensive woes. On the other hand, the Giants play good defense but Kansas City’s offense is still better than any of the opponents that New York has played so far.
Mahomes is on a rough stretch but he’s bound to end it soon and it could be here against a New York team that is still struggling to forge its identity. The Giants should be able to give it a good fight but in the end, the Chiefs should be too good for them, even if KC isn’t playing up to par.
Prediction: Kansas City Chiefs
Other Bets to Make
The Giants are 4-0 ATS in their last four road games against an opponent with a losing home record. New York is 4-1-1 ATS in their last six Week 8 games, 4-1 ATS in their last five November games, 20-6-1 ATS in their last 27 games played on grass, 22-7 ATS in their last 29 games as road underdogs, 15-5-1 ATS in their last 21 games against an opponent with a losing record, and 20-6 ATS in their last 26 road games.
The Chiefs are 3-14-1 ATS in their last 18 games played. Kansas City is 1-8 ATS in their last nine games played at home, 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games after an ATS win, 2-5 ATS in their last seven games against an opponent with a losing record, 4-13 ATS in their last 17 games as betting favorites, 3-13 ATS in their last 16 games played on grass, 1-7 ATS in their last eight games as home, and 0-6 ATS in their last six games after scoring fewer than 15 points in their previous game.
Head to head, the Giants are 4-1 ATS in their last five games against the Giants.
Giants
+10 (-110)
Chiefs
-10 (-110)
Odds from BetOnline as of 11/01/2021
New York is just 1-2 SU on the road this season but has covered twice in three games. The Chiefs are also just 1-2 at home this season but they have failed to cover the betting spread in any of their home games.
There’s no question that Kansas City is the much better team here and if they put things together, covering the spread won’t be an issue. However, the Chiefs head to this game coming off a blowout loss to the Titans while the Giants are coming off a big win against the Panthers the last time out.
I expect the Chiefs to play better this week and I’m picking them to win this game but as far as the double-digit spread is concerned, I’m not confident in them covering that spread given how they’ve played the entire season. The Giants might not win this game outright, but they should be able to keep it to within single digits. I’ll take the plus points here.
Prediction: Giants +10
The total has gone under in 11 out of the last 15 games played by the Giants. The under is 7-1 in their last eight games against an opponent with a losing record, 6-1 in their last seven games after an ATS win, 5-1 in their last six games after a straight-up win, 4-1 in their last five November games, and 5-2 in their last seven games on grass.
The total has gone under in each of the last four Monday games played by the Chiefs. The under is 5-1 in their last six games after a straight-up loss, 34-16-1 in their last 51 games against an opponent with a losing record, 8-4 in their last 12 Monday home games, and 5-1 in their last six head to head meetings against the New York Giants.
Over
52 (-110)
Under
52 (-110)
Odds from BetOnline as of 11/01/2021
With an offense that isn’t explosive, the Giants can’t win a shootout against the Chiefs. So If I’m guessing it right, their strategy would be to limit Mahomes from getting on the field. To do that, they would have to run the football and waste away the clock.
Should New York be successful in doing this, this will turn into a low-scoring game, likely one where the teams score in their 20s. I don’t think the Giants’ defense can stop the Chiefs’ offense but if they can keep Mahomes on the bench, then they will have a better shot at winning this game. Look for the Giants to slow the game down as best as they can.
Prediction: Under 52