Denver Broncos at New York Giants Betting Preview
The Broncos will make a long trip to New York for the season opener, and head coach Vic Fangio is on the hot seat in Denver following another disappointing campaign in 2020.
Head coach Joe Judge for the Giants is in a much different position, however, with big expectations for his second season on the sidelines.
The game will be played at 4:25 ET from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Can Daniel Jones Make the Jump?
The Giants are looking for a big improvement from Daniel Jones as he heads into his second full season as the Giants starting quarterback. He started off on the right foot, having a great rookie season with 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions; however, he regressed to only throwing 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions last season.
But, with the return of Saquon Barkley and the addition of offensive weapons like Kenny Golladay in free agency and Kadarius Toney in the draft, Jones has all the weapons he needs to be successful on the offensive end.
Defensively, the Giants were very underrated last season in their first stint under head coach Joe Judge. New York allowed just 22.3 points per game and 111.4 rushing yards per matchup. Both of those ranked as top-10 marks in the NFL. They also ranked fifth in the NFL in passing touchdowns allowed.
Is Teddy Bridgewater the Answer?
Denver opened training camp with a clear quarterback competition between Drew Lock and veteran Teddy Bridgewater. After an uninspiring preseason from Lock, Bridgewater came up as the leader for the job as the starter for Week 1 and will be expected to provide leadership in the locker room.
Joining him in the backfield will be rookie running back Javonte Williams, who has earned the main RB job over Melvin Gordon for the Broncos and is expected to have a heavy workload right away.
They also will be seeing the return of Courtland Sutton at receiver, and he only helps Bridgewater by adding weapons at his disposal. Jerry Jeudy is at receiver in his second season, along with KJ Hamler and Tim Patrick. Don’t forget about the speedy Noah Fant at Tight end, either.
Defensively, they have the return of long-time captain and veteran linebacker Von Miller. However, young edge rusher Bradley Chubb is questionable for this matchup. However, Denver will need to find a way to stop the run in 2021. The Broncos gave up 29.9 points per game and were the eighth-worst rushing defense in the NFL.
Prediction
The Broncos are heading into this matchup as three-point favorites on the road, and it makes sense after the lackluster season that both teams had last season. But for the Giants, that season showed a lot of promise and improvement.
That being said, the Giants have started 0-2 or worse in seven of the last eight seasons, and I am not sure if their fortunes will change in a tough game against the Broncos.
Yes, they will have Saquon returning, but Denver’s defense is strong with the return of Von Miller and a strong secondary, so they should be able to lock up the Giants.
I like the Broncos to cover the three points.
Final Pick: Broncos -3 (-110)
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