The New York Giants head to Edward Jones Dome to play the St. Louis Rams this week. While this season has been a bit of a letdown for St. Louis, they have shown signs of life as of late, notching wins in three of their last five. The game starts at 4:05 p.m. ET on Sunday and will air on FOX.
In last week’s game, St. Louis suffered a loss at the hands of Cardinals 12-6. Janoris Jenkins led the St. Louis defense in the loss, registering eight tackles. New York is looking to repeat last week when they beat Washington 24-13. Odell Beckham Jr. had an outstanding performance for the Giants, grabbing 12 balls for 143 yards and three TDs.
The Giants are a four-point underdog against the Rams and the Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 43 points. The Rams enter the game with records of 6-8 Straight Up (SU) and 7-7 Against The Spread (ATS) this season. In their five most recent matchups, the Rams went 3-2 SU and 4-1 ATS. Over the course of the season, St. Louis has averaged 20.8 PPG. However, during the past five games they’ve scored at a higher clip and averaged 25 PPG. New York’s run defense has given up large chunks of yardage this season. They allow an average of 4.9 yards per run, highest in the league. The Giants are matching up with St. Louis’s defense at an inopportune time as well. St. Louis usually allows 21.2 points per game, but over the last five that number has fallen to nine. The St. Louis run defense has played at another level during those games as well. Its given up only 77.4 rush yards per game during that span. There will be plenty of opportunities for the Rams to steal the ball from New York. The Giants currently rank 27th in turnovers given up with 1.9 per game. The Rams make it hard on their opponents right from the first whistle, averaging 6.4 points in the first 15 minutes.
On the other side, the Giants have 5-9 SU and 6-8 ATS records this season. Over their last five games, the Giants have a SU record of 2-3 and a 3-2 record ATS for those betting with them. Other teams have a high success rate throwing the ball against the Rams. It may be in New York’s game plan to take advantage of the home team’s inability to prevent completions, 30th in the league at 67.3%. The Rams may want to check what’s in New York’s coolers when they match up this week. The Giants are playing better defense than they have all year, only allowing 18 PPG over their last five games, which is well under their season average of 24.2 points. The secondary for the Giants will be looking to shut down the already weak passing attack of the Rams, which ranks 26th in the league with an average of 208.1 passing yards per game. The St. Louis offensive line better prepare this week because the Giants get to opposing quarterbacks with ease. The Giants defense is currently fourth in the league with an average of 2.9 sacks per game. The Giants usually get a boost in the second quarter of away games, where they average 10.7 points this year. Yellow flags will likely be a common sight during any game with St. Louis. The Rams are one of the most penalized teams in the league with 7.7 calls per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – STL, ATS Winner – NYG, O/U – Under
Notes
NY Giants are 2-7 SU in their last 9 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of St. Louis’s last 6 games at home.
NY Giants are 3-6 ATS in their last 9 games.
St. Louis is 0-5 SU in their last 5 games when playing NY Giants.
NY Giants are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games on the road.
St. Louis is 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games when playing NY Giants.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of the NY Giants last 7 games on the road.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of St. Louis’s last 5 games when playing NY Giants.
NY Giants are 1-4 SU in their last 5 games on the road.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis’s last 6 games when playing at home against NY Giants.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of the NY Giants last 5 games when playing St. Louis.
St. Louis is 5-2 SU in their last 7 games when playing at home against NY Giants.
NY Giants are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games when playing St. Louis.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of the NY Giants last 6 games when playing on the road against St. Louis.
NY Giants are 2-5 SU in their last 7 games when playing on the road against St. Louis.
New York is 3-3 SU when leading at the half this season. St. Louis is 5-4 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Both teams are 4-2 SU when leading at the end of the third quarter.
New York is 3-2 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle this season, and only 2-6 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
St. Louis is winless this season (0-4 SU) in games where it loses the turnover battle.
The New York defense is averaging 5.0 sacks per game over its last five games, while the St. Louis defense is averaging 3.8 over its last five. Both teams are winless this season when opposing defenses manage such pressure. St. Louis is 0-4 SU when allowing at least 5 sacks and New York is 0-3 SU when giving up at least 3 sacks.
The New York defense has forced an average of 2.2 turnovers over its last five games. St. Louis is an even 3-3 SU this season when turning the ball over at least 2 times in a game.
The St. Louis passing attack is ranked only 26th in the league, while the New York pass defense is ranked 13th. The Giants’ passing game is ranked just 12th, compared to the 10th-ranked pass defense of the Rams.
St. Louis is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its 20th-ranked rushing attack will face the 30th-ranked run defense of New York, while its 12th-ranked run defense will look to contain the 22nd-ranked rushing game of the Giants.
St. Louis has allowed 20.6 points per game at home this year, which is ranked 13th in the league. New York has scored 22.4 points per contest on the road (ranked 11th overall).
