Thursday Night Football: Betting Washington vs. Giants (Week 2 2021)

Odds, predictions, trends, and news for the Week 2 Thursday Night Football matchup between the Washington Football Team and New York Giants.

September 16, 2021 - by Jason Lisk

Betting tonight’s Thursday Night Football clash between Washington and the Giants means evaluating a new QB situation. The Fitzmagic era in Washington did not last long, and it’s Taylor Heinicke time at for The Football Team for the next month or two.

The Giants, meanwhile, need to find a way to generate offense, something that has been sorely missing since Joe Judge became head coach.

Both teams have started 0-1, and this game is key if either of these teams wants to contend in the NFC East this year—especially after Philadelphia got off to an explosive start and Dallas looked good in its opening close loss at Tampa Bay.

TNF Betting Details: Washington vs. N.Y. Giants

Point Spread: Washington (-3.0) vs. New York Giants (Opened at -4.0)

Over/Under: 40.5 points (Opened at 42.5)

Moneyline: Washington -175; NY Giants +155

BetIQ Win Odds: Washington 61%

BetIQ NFL Predictions: Point Spread | Over/Under | Moneyline Value

Injury Report

Notable Thursday Night Football News

Washington Pours a Heinicke

Ryan Fitzpatrick got hurt in the second quarter of his first start with Washington, and now will miss 6-8 weeks with a hip injury.

Taylor Heinicke, who started the playoff game last year against Tampa Bay and played respectably, will make his third career start. His only other regular season start came toward the end of the 2018 season with Carolina.

Heinicke has an opportunity for the next month and a half to establish himself as a viable journeyman starter with a long career, or play himself out of the league with this extended chance.

Saquon Barkley Limited

Saquon Barkley started last year with only 6 rushing yards on 15 attempts against Pittsburgh, then suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 2.

In his first game back in action, it’s not a surprise that Barkley was limited, but he managed only 10 rush attempts and 26 rushing yards last week against Denver. He played a little less than half the snaps. He’s expected to play tonight but was listed as questionable on the injury report in Week 2.

For an offense that has been struggling, getting an explosive Barkley back and comfortable may be key to opening things up, but it’s going to be a work in progress.

Hot Seats in New York

The New York Giants have won 18 games since the start of the 2017 season, tied for the fewest in the NFL over that span with their co-tenants, the Jets. While the Jets have turned over their coaching staff this offseason, the same names are back with the Giants.

If tonight’s game goes poorly, expect the heat and the media outcry in New York to intensify.

All the key positions (other than owner) could be facing that heat. GM Dave Gettleman is in his fourth season in New York, without much success. QB Daniel Jones is entering Year Three and must show improvement over his poor 2020 season. Head Coach Joe Judge and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett may not get much benefit of the doubt if things don’t turn around.

Washington vs. Giants Betting Trends

• Not-So-Giant on Offense: The Giants went Under the Total in 13 of 16 games a year ago, including the last eight games. They scored 20 or less in 10 games in 2020.
• Low Total? The 40.5 over/under line is the lowest of the young season, and only nine games last year had a total of 41.0 or under. (Those games went 7-2 to the over.)
• Little HFA in NFC East: As we wrote about in regard to home field advantage in the NFC East, the four NFC East teams have won barely more than half of their home games in division matchups since 2002. Over that span, the home teams in all six series have a losing cumulative record against the spread. The home team in the Giants-Washington series since 2002 has gone 17-21 ATS (44.7%).

TNF Stat Projections and Player Props

Using the most similar games from the last five seasons, where the spread was approximately 3.5 points and over/under was approximately 40.5 points, here are the average offensive statistics for teams like Washington (favorite) and New York Giants (underdog).

Team	Pass Comp	Pass Att	Pass Yards	Pass TDs	Pass INTs		Rush Att	Rush Yds	Rush TDs
WAS Comps	20.7	32.3	243.8	1.6	0.7		28.9	123.8	0.8
NYG Comps	20.2	33.4	220.7	1.2	0.9		26.4	108.5	0.8

Here are the most common player prop over/under totals on some key players for Thursday Night Football:

Player	Team	Category	Over/Under
Daniel Jones	NYG	Pass Yards	236.5
Daniel Jones	NYG	Rushing Yards	22.5
Taylor Heinicke	WAS	Pass Yards	247.5
Antonio Gibson	WAS	Rushing Yards	70.5
Taylor Heinicke	WAS	Rushing Yards	20.5
Sterling Shepard	NYG	Receptions	4.5
Sterling Shepard	NYG	Receiving Yards	58.5
Kenny Golladay	NYG	Receiving Yards	52.5
Terry McLaurin	WAS	Receptions	5.5
Terry McLaurin	WAS	Receiving Yards	69.5
Logan Thomas	WAS	Receptions	4.5
Logan Thomas	WAS	Receiving Yards	46.5

Sportsbook Promos

Here are some promotions available at various sportsbooks for Week 2:

BetMGM

• Don’t Worry About Blown Leads: Moneyline bet is paid out as a winner if team is up by 10+ points at halftime

Caesars

• Thursday Boost: Logan Thomas To Score a Touchdown And Over 46.5 Receiving Yards On Sept 16 BOOSTED to +400
• Thursday Boost: Terry McLaurin & Kenny Golladay Both To Score a Touchdown on Sep. 16 BOOSTED to +1000

DraftKings

• New signups: Bonus of 20% on first deposit

FanDuel

• Risk-Free First Bet: Get a risk free first bet up to $1,000 when you deposit $10 or more

PointsBet

• New signups: Get a deposit match for deposits of $150 to $250
• Thursday Boost: +130 – Heinicke 200+ yards & Washington to Win (Boosted from +110)
• Thursday Boost: +195 — Daniel Jones to have 220+ passing yards and 2+ total touchdowns (Boosted from +175)