With both teams looking to reach the postseason the Week 15 Sunday Night Football matchup between the New York Giants and Washington Commanders will have a definite postseason vibe. Maybe the pressure of playing for a postseason berth has gotten to the Giants, who have failed to post a victory in their last four outings after starting the season 7-2. Meanwhile the team formerly known as the Redskins is on a roll going 6-1-1 SU and ATS over the last eight games to climb into the top seven in the NFC. The teams played to a 20-20 draw just a few weeks ago with Washington a 2.5-point favorite. The Commanders are laying 4.5-points in the rematch.
The Week 15 Sunday Night Football contest between the New York Giants and Washington Commanders will take place at FedEx Field in Landover, MD at 8:20 p.m. ET on December 18, 2022 and will be televised on NBC.
Giants vs Redskins Odds
New York Giants +4.5 ( +178 )
Washington Commanders -4.5 ( -213 )
Over/Under 40
Odds Analysis
There’s a scenario where every NFC East team reaches the postseason but it involves winning games, and that’s something the Giants haven’t done in a month. They were poised to be the surprise team of the year bolting out to a 7-2 SU and ATS record through nine games. However an offense that has struggled to score and an overworked defense had a date with reality. The Giants were destroyed 48-22 last week by Philly dropping them to 0-3-1 in their last four games. And that’s a big reason why the spread went from Commanders -4 to -4.5. With Philadelphia having a special season and Dallas reaching 10 wins along with a few other NFC clubs putting streaks together, the Commanders have flown under the radar with their heater. They are 6-1-1 SU and ATS in their last eight games and the UNDER is 8-2-1 in their last 11.
New York Giants
If the Giants had anything resembling a passing game they probably wouldn’t be worrying about a playoff spot. They got away with it earlier in the season with Saqoun Barkley running wild, but with Barkley slowed by injuries and defenses keying on him, the team has struggled even more. Daniel Jones has decent numbers with 2,534 yards passing and 12 touchdowns. And he’s valued the football more than most QBs. His four interceptions are tied for the second fewest in the NFL among players with 224 pass attempts. But the lack of a go-to receiver has hurt the passing game. Barkley leads the team with 42 catches and the team averages just 180.5 passing yards.
With Barkley being the center of attention for opposing defenses the Giants have still managed to rush for over 147 yards a game. An injury slowed Barkley last week when he had a season-low nine rush attempts for 28 yards. He had 63 yards on 18 carries against Washington in the first meeting, his highest total in four games. Failing to do much offensively has hurt the guys on the other side of the football. During their winless skid the Giants are conceding 31.8 points per game, which is roughly eight points more than their season average.
Washington Commanders
He won’t be getting any MVP votes, but Taylor Heinicke has done the job since taking over as the starting QB. He’s 5-1-1 in his seven starts and had one of his better games against the Giants last time out. He completed a season-high 27 passes for 275 yards and two TDs helping the Commanders rack up 411 total yards. However he was sacked five times and the offense converted just 3 of 14 third downs spoiling an otherwise dominant performance.
There’s nothing pretty about what Washington does. They just grind out games and wear down opposing defenses by controlling the ball for a league-best 33 minutes per game. They average nearly 125 rushing yards with Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson each going over 500 yards with five scores between them. Terry McLaurin gives them a receiver who can stretch the field and make the difficult catches. He averages 15.2 yards on his 62 receptions. There are enough playmakers to make the offense more explosive, but they’ve enjoyed success with what they’ve done, so why change now.
Giants vs Redskins Prediction
The way things have gone recently the Commanders look like a good bet. However, their bye might have come at the wrong time interrupting a solid string of games. And Washington historically has been bad in its first game back going just 3-6 SU and 2-7 ATS in its last nine post-bye games. The Giants desperately need a passing attack to avoid being one-dimensional and that’s a point of interest to the coaching staff. Add that element to a healthy Barkley and mobile Jones and the Giants could score enough for the upset.
Prediction: New York Giants +4.5 and OVER 40
