The Washington Football Team was among the leaders in sacks last season, ranking sixth with 47. Only three NFL quarterbacks were brought down more often in 2020 than New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who was sacked 45 times. Washington will hope to put plenty of pressure on Jones when it hosts the NFC East-rival Giants on Thursday Night Football. Washington, which recorded two sacks in its 2021 season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, sacked Jones only twice in the first three meetings before taking him down five times in Week 9 last season.
Kickoff from FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland is set for 8:20 p.m. ET. Washington is a 3.5-point favorite in the latest Giants vs. Washington odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while the over-under for total points scored is 40.5. Before making any Washington vs. Giants picks, make sure to check out the expert NFL predictions from SportsLine’s Mike Tierney.
A national sportswriter whose work appears in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Tierney has covered the NFL for decades and reported from seven Super Bowls.
Tierney has used that experience to crush his NFL picks, going 187-147 against the spread the past three seasons. In addition, Tierney is an incredible 23-9-1 on his last 33 picks involving Washington. Anyone who has followed him is way up.
Now, Tierney has set his sights on Washington vs. Giants on Thursday Night Football and just revealed his NFL expert picks and predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see his picks. Here are several NFL odds and betting trends for Giants vs. WFT:
- Giants vs. Washington spread: Washington -3.5
- Giants vs. Washington over-under: 40.5 points
- Giants vs. Washington money line: New York +150, Washington -175
- NYG: The Giants have won 11 of their last 15 games in Washington
- WAS: Washington has lost 17 of its last 21 home contests
Featured Game | Washington Football Team vs. New York Giants
Why Washington can cover
It didn’t show in the season-opener, but Washington had the second-best defense in the NFL last season and allowed an average of 304.6 yards per contest. It permitted the Chargers to rack up 424 yards last Sunday, but should perform much better against New York’s softer offense. The Giants amassed only 314 total yards in their Week 1 home loss to Denver, with a mere 60 gained on the ground.
Washington kept the Chargers under 100 yards rushing (90) and managed to sack Justin Herbert twice, with Montez Sweat recording one. The 25-year-old Sweat led Washington with nine sacks last season after registering seven as a rookie in 2019. Dating back to last year, the 2019 first-round draft pick out of Mississippi State has notched a sack in four consecutive games and five of his last six, including Washington’s wild-card loss to Tampa Bay last postseason.
Why the Giants can cover
New York recorded only six victories last year, but two of them were versus Washington. In fact, the team’s first two wins of 2020 came against the division rival, with the second igniting a four-game winning streak that put the Giants in contention for first place in the NFC East. Daniel Jones had one of the best rushing performances of his NFL career in the first win, gaining a team-high 74 yards on seven attempts.
The 24-year-old Jones has yet to lose in four meetings with Washington, as he registered two of his three wins as a rookie in 2019 against the club. He had the most productive effort in the NFL versus Washington in Week 16 of that season, throwing for 352 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-35 overtime victory. Jones had 267 passing yards against the Broncos last Sunday, his highest total since he recorded 279 in the 2020 season opener versus Pittsburgh.
How to make Giants vs. Washington picks
Tierney is leaning under on the point total. He’s also isolated a critical x-factor that makes one side of the spread hit hard. You can only see what it is at SportsLine.
So who wins Washington vs. Giants on Thursday Night Football? And what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see Mike Tierney’s WFT vs. Giants pick and analysis, all from the NFL expert who’s on a 23-9 roll on Washington picks, and find out.
