Eli Manning and Matt Ryan will cross paths again on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, and the New York Giants are hoping things go as well …
Eli Manning and Matt Ryan will cross paths again on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, and the New York Giants are hoping things go as well for them as they did on Jan.8,2012, when they defeated Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons,24-2, in the NFC wild-card game. Manning was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, giving Atlanta a safety and a 2-0 lead, but then threw for 277 yards and three touchdowns to send the Giants on their way to their Super Bowl XLVI championship. Ryan is 36, six years older than Manning was in that meeting, and he’s still quarterbacking the Falcons as they invade the Meadowlands on Eli Manning jersey retirement day. Both teams are desperate at 0-2 and coming off near-misses. The Giants lost,30-29, in Washington on Thursday of Week 2 on a Dustin Hopkins second-chance field goal after his miss was nullified by a disputed offside penalty. Atlanta fell,48-25, to the defending champs in Tampa, but that game was 28-25 midway through the fourth quarter. Ryan went 35-of-46 for 300 yards before the Buccaneers’ Mike Edwards made two pick-sixes. The Giants have an edge because of the extra rest, as they are 10-1-1 against the spread in their past 12 games following a Thursday nighter, per VSiN. But the scary stat is 75.6 percent — that’s the combined completion percentage the Giants defense has allowed to Teddy Bridgewater and Taylor Heinicke. If that doesn’t improve drastically, Ryan can get his long-awaited revenge and make sure halftime is the only thing Giants fans will want to remember. The pick: Falcons, +2.5. This game has both the highest point spread and lowest Over/Under on the board. That leads you to the underdog, because if total points are expected to be low, it figures to be harder for the favorite to cover a large number.
