NFL: Giants at Jets
Posted on August 20, 2008 | 10:36 AM ET Filed under:The New York Jets and their new QB take on the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants in the annual preseason Battle of New York – which takes place in New Jersey – on Saturday night. Local television coverage begins at 7 pm Eastern.
OddsMaker.com is listing the Jets as 3–point favorites for Saturday's game, with a total of 38.
Each of these teams has split their first two exhibition games this summer. The Giants lost at Detroit 13-10 two weeks ago, then hung on to beat Cleveland 37-34 Monday night. Meanwhile, the Jets rallied to beat the Browns 24-20 two weeks ago, then lost at home to Washington last Saturday 13-10.
Eli Manning has, of course, played sparingly so far this exhibition season, throwing just 13 passes so far and completing six for 71 yards and a couple of TDs. Backups David Carr and Anthony Wright have combined to go 30/48/307 with a TD and an INT.
The Giants used a pair of defensive/special teams TDs to grab a 30-3 lead early in the second quarter Monday night vs. Cleveland, then let the Browns rally to make it close at the end. The G-Men covered the spread as a home-team pick 'em, and the game, thanks to three D/ST scores, a safety and nearly a full half of sloppy time, easily went over its total of 36.
In his debut for the Jets last week vs. the Redskins, Brett Favre went 5/6 passing for 48 yards and a TD. One would think Favre will get more work Saturday night, in an attempt to familiarize him with a new offense.
So far this preseason, Jets second-stringer Kellen Clemens has gone 9/18/94 playing against first- and second-team defenses, while Brett Ratliff – a second-year player out of Utah – has gone 27/39/400, with two TDs and no INTs against mostly third-team scrubs.
The last time Favre went up against the Giants, of course, was as a Packer in last season's NFC championship game, when his overtime interception led to New York's game-winning field goal in the bitter cold at Lambeau Field last January.
These two teams met in a Week 5 bout last season, with the Giants coming away with a 35-24 victory. The G-Men outrushed the Jets that day 188-55, but had to rally from a 24-14 third-quarter deficit. The Giants covered the spread as 3 1/2-point favorites, and the game breezed over its total of 41, as the teams combined for three defensive/special teams TDs.
In their fifth preseason under coach Tom Coughlin, the Giants are an overall 10-8 straight up and 10-7-1 against the spread, with the totals going 8-10.
In their third exhibition season under coach Eric Mangini, the Jets are 6-4 SU overall, 5-5 ATS, with the totals going 5-5.
The Giants are listed at +300 at OddsMaker.com to win the NFC East this season, +600 to repeat as NFC champions, and +1,500 to win a second consecutive Super Bowl.
OddsMaker.com lists the Jets at +800 to win the AFC East this season, +2,500 to win the conference title and +5,000 to win Super Bowl XLIII down in Tampa in February.
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