NFL Week 2 Best Bets: Giants vs. Washington Thursday Night Football Picks and Predictions

Things didn’t go to plan for these teams in week one with the Giants losing to the Broncos and Washington falling at home to the Chargers. So which team will get 1 in the win column in the Thursday night opener? Let's check out the NFL odds for this game.

New York Giants vs. Washington Football Team

Thursday, September 16, 2021 - 08:20 PM EDT at FedExField

What Happened to Them Last Week?

The Giants were outclassed at home by the Broncos as a breakaway touchdown from Melvin Gordon in the third quarter put the nail in the coffin for them. Without Saquon Barkley at full health it was always going to be an uphill battle for them, and despite taking an early lead they were never really looking in control.

Washington lost a predictably close game to the Chargers as the kickers took center stage before Mike Williams found the endzone in the fourth and the Chargers defense saw out the game from that moment on. They lost Ryan Fitzpatrick early on which would have ruined any gameplan but Taylor Heinicke. They are giving Fitz a scan today to find out how serious the injury was, but it’s not looking good for his availability for this game.

The best online bookmakers had Washington close to Dallas at the top of the division, they’ll need a win here to keep their hopes of that happening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9Dl4It0erE

So How Is the First Thursday Night Game Going to Go?

With the Washington front and the lack of Fitzmagic on their side of the ball this is shaping up to be a poor opening game for Thursday nights. From an offensive stand point at least.

I think the Washington pass rushers will get home throughout the game and give Daniel Jones a very tough night. The likes of Chase Young, Montez Sweat and Jonathan Allen form up one of the best groups in the league and against a poor Giants offensive line it may be a long and painful night for Jones.

In fairness that offensive line held up fairly well against the Broncos, but there’s more talent on the Washington roster and it will keep Jones under pressure for much of the night.

https://twitter.com/Giants/status/1437150282882981890?s=20

How Do the Giants Win Here?

They need Saquon Barkley to have taken some positivity from his appearance in the opener after coming back from a season-ending injury and to contribute a full workload in this game. I’m not sure that will happen. It’s a divisional game so there’s going to be more pressure on the team to get a win, but it’s a long season and it would make sense for them to limit his workload and give him 10 days off after this game has gone past.

He wasn’t the only player coming into the game with injury though, big money signing Kenny Golladay was nursing a muscle strain and it showed in the performance, they will be hoping one of the two will be able to contribute in this game as combining for under 100 yards as the two best players on the team isn’t going to help.

What Can Washington Do to Win?

It will likely need a strong defensive performance from Washington to get the win in this one, they will need to carry on getting pressure upfront and that’s something they’re more than capable of doing.

With Fitzpatrick out, they will be feeding Antonio Gibson the ball and he’ll have to live up to the hype from his head coach who said he was “Their Christian McCaffrey” coming into the season. Heinicke actually looked all right in the little action he’s seen over the last couple of year so while they lost their #1 guy, possibly for the season they’re stronger on defense and will use that area to keep their offense safe.

So… Not a Classic Then?

It’s an NFC East encounter so the viewing figures will be there, but I don’t see how we’re going to get 20 points from both teams in this one. The total is lower than any from week 1, but for good reason. I still think it goes up that.

NFL Pick: (visit our Sportsbook Review)

*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds.