THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: NEW YORK GIANTS AT WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM

BY ADAM GREENE

After experiencing what could be argued as the greatest Week 1 of NFL football in the sport’s history, the league decided to lower expectations by a Grand Canyon or so, kicking off Week 2 with a Thursday Night Football NFC East match up as the New York Giants travel to their old nemesis the, the Washington Football Team.

Yes, after a prime time slate of the Dallas Cowboys at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Chicago Bears at the Los Angeles Rams and an epic Baltimore Ravens at Las Vegas Raiders game that we’ll be talking about all year, we get this, another classic Taylor Heinicke vs Daniel Jones QB duel. Just like we always wanted.

This is an ancient rivalry, one of the oldest in the sport going back to 1932 and, if you’re my age, you remember when these two teams were a consistent factor in the NFC. In fact, from 1982-1992, the WFT and Giants combined for six Super Bowl appearances and five victories. New York has a pretty significant edge in the overall series, 105-69-4 and has, believe it or not, won the last five consecutive match ups and seven of the last nine.

NEW YORK GIANTS AT WASHTINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM (-3.5, O/U: 40.5)

Location: FedEx Field, Landover, Md.

Broadcast: NFL Network

Kickoff: Sept. 16, 8:20 p.m. EST

NEW YORK GIANTS (0-1)

To what should have come as a surprise to no one, the Giants opened their season with solid trip behind the old woodshed delivered by the Denver Broncos to the tune of 27-13. Daniel Jones completed 22 of 37 passes for 267 yards and a touchdown, which isn’t horrible, if he didn’t also lead the team in rushing with 27 yards and a score. With Saquon Barkley as your running back, that’s not exactly how you draw it up. Wide receiver Sterling Shepard had a solid game, hauling in seven passes for 113 yards and a TD, but the defense barely slowed down the Broncos over the final three.

WASHINGTON FOOTBAL TEAM (0-1)

WFT also opened up their season with a loss to an AFC West opponent, dropping a close one 20-16 to everyone’s favorite team this season, the Los Angeles Chargers. While I did prognosticate in my 7 Bold Predictions article that Taylor Heinicke would take over for Ryan Fitzpatrick this season in Washington, I didn’t think it would happen in game one. Heinicke came in for an injured Fitzpatrick before halftime and led two consecutive scoring drives, putting Washington up 16-13. A continual turnover trade-off finally worked in the Chargers’ favor as they closed out the game with a touchdown.

THE PICK

It says a lot about not only NFL punditry, but every sportsbook, that Washington, even starting their “back up” quarterback remains more than a field goal favorite here. I liked Heinicke from the beginning and felt like he’d eventually get to be in the Captain’s Chair. Thursday night, he’ll get to prove he deserves it. WFT 27, Giants 16

Last week

Straight up: 10-6

Against the spread: 9-7

The NFL season is underway and the Week 2 Schedule is up and taking bets at BetOnline.AG.

Follow our BetOnline Twitter account for the latest sports news and betting odds, and stay tuned on the Instagram feed for more good information too