Giants vs. Pats: Which Team Will Shatter Expectations in This Season’s Ultimate Showdown?

So here we are, gearing up for Giants vs. Patriots at 8:15 ET — a matchup that, on paper, screams “yawn,” yet somehow still teases with a sliver of intrigue . The Giants, battered and bruised, have been a mystery wrapped in futility this season — the kind of team that looks like they’re auditioning for an epic collapse every week. And the Patriots? Well, they’re playing that temperate, steady ball under Mike Vrabel, looking like a squad that could very well sneak up in the division or steal the ultimate prize. Question is — with the Patriots’ lockdown defense and the Giants juggling quarterbacks like a circus act, can New York actually spark enough life to avoid being a total blowout? Or is this just another snooze-fest masquerading as primetime football? I’m betting the under on points, and maybe on excitement too — but hey, stranger things have happened. LEARN MORE.

Giants vs. Patriots, 8:15 ET

Sometimes you get some great games on paper and they don’t turn out to be anything special. I wasn’t overly impressed with the Bengals vs. Ravens on Thanksgiving, for example. However, that had the makings of being a great game. Joe Burrow was back, Lamar Jackson had looked better, and I was expecting a great game. Instead, we got a dud. Looking at this game, at least on paper, it looks like it is going to be terrible, but maybe the Giants can make it a game against the Patriots.

The Giants are one of the worst teams in football, and not all of that is due to injuries. Sure, their season started off rough with Russell Wilson getting one last shot under center. He was competent in some games and embarrassingly bad in others. Jaxon Dart breathed some life into the Giants, but they were finding historic ways to choke away games. It was almost as if their former head coach wanted to be fired because he continued to have good leads and just let them slip away. Again, he isn’t playing the game, but he is making calls, and probably not making nearly enough adjustments. The past two weeks the Giants have had Jameis Winston under center, but this week Dart should return and I do think that gives the Giants at least a little bit of a boost. The big issue will be trying to figure out this Patriots defense that is allowing just 213.5 passing yards per game, and 87.7 rushing yards per game.

The Patriots, as just mentioned, are pretty darn good. I don’t think there are many people who aren’t die-hard Patriots fans holding tickets on them to win the Super Bowl or to even win the division. Both look like real possibilities this season. Drake Maye has been amazing this year and a potential MVP candidate. I can’t say I expected him to take this giant of a leap forward, but perhaps this is a reflection of a softer schedule? I suppose you could make that argument about them given that the best wins on the schedule were at Buffalo and at Tampa. If I want to make excuses for those teams, I really can’t find one for Buffalo other than that they’ve been off all season. The turnover regression is certainly hurting the Bills. The Buccaneers were banged up, but still probably should’ve been more competitive.

Mike Vrabel is doing a great job with the Patriots this season, and he probably should win Coach of the Year honors. This is the last game before the bye week for the Patriots, and that is a chance for them to fall apart a little bit. A lot of teams tend to lose focus around there. Geoff Clark, who is a better NFL handicapper than I am likes the Giants. He rarely bets on or against them because he is a fan of the team, but I don’t hate the look. The Patriots are without a doubt the better club, but I’m not thinking they need to win this game by a full touchdown, either. Instead of that, I like the under. New England’s defense has been very good, and I just don’t see the Patriots running up the score here. I’ll back under 46.5.

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