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PrintBefore the New York Giants’ opening-round playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons and well before their Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots last Feburary, they were listed at 23-to-1 to win it all.
Roughly one year later, sitting at 8-6 and in a three-way tie with the Redskins and Cowboys atop the NFC East, the Giants have 25-to-1 Super Bowl futures odds at the LVH SuperBook in Las Vegas.
Relatively the same odds, and yet the Giants now have to likely finish 2-0 and/or beat out two other teams in their own division before they even get to the playoffs.
It appears oddsmakers have learned their lesson: Don’t drop the odds too low on dangerous teams like New York.
However, if you’re looking to get any value out of the defending Super Bowl champs, it’s probably “now or never” time.
NFC EAST PLAYOFF PICTURE
Making sense of the NFC playoff picture right now—or even just the NFC East—is about as easy as swimming through a tidal wave, but here are the current division odds from the LVH.
Redskins -110
Cowboys +155
Giants +400
All three teams are 8-6, but only the Giants don’t control their own destiny. Hence, the odds are much lower on them. ESPN did a great job of explaining this mess yesterday. The key excerpt:
No NFC East team can clinch a playoff spot in Week 16.
Basically, any of those three teams that wins its final two games will make the playoffs. Because the Redskins and the Cowboys play each other in Week 17, they cannot both go 2-0 from here out. But if one of them does, it will be the NFC East champion, regardless of what the Giants do. If the Giants go 2-0 the rest of the way, they will reach the playoffs, either as the wild-card team or, if the Cowboys and Redskins each go 1-1, as the division champ.
So, there ya have it. If the Giants go 2-0 (at Baltimore this week and home to Philadelphia in Week 17), they’ll be in the playoffs, either as the division champion or a wild card.
And once they’re in, we’ve seen what they can do, winning the Super Bowl twice in the past five years despite playing at home only once in eight total games. No matter their seed, we can’t imagine their odds being much better than 10-to-1 if they get in.
IS NEW YORK WORTH A STAB AT 25-TO-1?
It’s not nearly as tempting as last year, but perhaps. The total payout would probably be better if you took the time to bet them each week on the money line and roll over the winnings each week, but if you don’t want that hassle, 25-to-1 is a decent payout.
A lot has to happen, but this is how the Giants operate. Wait until their backs are against the wall and then perform like the best team in football.
