NFL Week 9 Betting Analysis: New York Giants vs. Las Vegas Raiders

New York Giants (2-6 SU, 2-5-1 ATS) vs. Las Vegas Raiders (3-4 SU, 3-3-1 ATS)

Week 9 NFL

Date/Time: Sunday, November 5, 2023 at 4:25PM EDT

Where: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevad

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TV: Fox

Point Spread: NYG +2.5/LV -2.5 (Bovada)

Betting Odds

Money Line: NYG +115, LV -135

The New York Giants come to Allegiant Stadium for a Week 9 showdown with the Las Vegas Raiders. The Giants fell to 2-6 on Sunday with a 13-10 loss to the Jets. They look for better this week with the return of QB Daniel Jones, who has missed the last three games. Things aren’t going well for the Raiders, either, losing their second straight on MNF to the Lions, 26-14. Can they bounce back at home, or will the Giants get a little spark with Jones coming back and give the Raiders a run for their money?

Can the Raiders Bounce Back?

It’s a tough situation, and they looked pretty bad on Monday. Now, there is a problem with star receiver Davante Adams, clearly frustrated with the lack of work, as it’s suddenly hard to get him the ball. You wonder if Jimmy Garoppolo and Adams really fit. Joshua Jacobs, while showing some signs of life, hasn’t really had even one of those big games we saw from him last season. Jakobi Meyers has been good in his first season with the Raiders as the number-two receiver. But at some point, you have to look up and notice that despite all this good weaponry, we’re sitting here in week nine, and the Raiders have not surpassed 21 points of scoring all season. Six times, they’ve been below 17 points.

Earlier in the season, we saw the Raiders’ defense keeping them in games with some nice showings on that side of the ball. Over the course of the season, however, that has waned. We saw it with them getting smoked 30-12 a few weeks ago by the Bears starting a backup before letting Jahmyr Gibbs run wild on them on MNF. Obviously, if their offense stays in the dumps and the defense continues heading where they’re trending, things could get rough for the Raiders this season. Maybe after two in a row away from home, returning home can yield some better results.

Are the Giants in a Position to Capitalize?

If you’re optimistic about the Giants this week, a lot has to be based on the probable return of Jones. For those of us who weren’t watching the Giants on Sunday and just box-score watching, it was hard to make sense of what was occurring, with Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito combining for seven passing yards for the game. It’s a miracle they extended it to overtime with stats like that, saved by Saquon Barkley having a big game. That’s also something they will be counting on moving forward this season. And if they were cautious with Jones and waited until he was healthy, his production along with the lively legs of Saquon could really pay off this week. They’d also like to see Darren Waller in there with a little revenge-narrative taking on his old team, as the tight end is dealing with a hamstring issue.

The Giants at least have some hope moving into this week with the re-emergence of Jones and what they’re hoping will be continued good play with Barkley. The Raiders also have some hope, simply in returning home to face a 2-6 foe, but they seem more-stuck in the thick stuff. No one’s coming back to help this week, the disharmony might be growing, and a lot of the pieces they had that specialized in overcoming adversity have departed. We will see if this group has the same resilience we saw from other Raiders teams in recent years, often lifting themselves off the mat and turning things around when you least expected them to do so.

Issues for the Raiders Too Much to Overcome?

To portray the Giants as a team flying high right now would be wrong, but they’re still trying. With the quarterback position basically shutting down on them last week, they still mustered the wherewithal to get to overtime. The Raiders might be in a worse state, with the coaching hire of Josh McDaniels having fallen flat thus far. Playing from behind against Detroit on MNF, Adams getting one catch for 11 yards is farcical. But again, some of these teams take on different forms with the home/away dynamic and with the Raiders coming off two road games, we may forget how they won the last two times they were in this stadium. Being at home against a Giants’ team playing out of conference in a long road trip seems like a good enough spot. The Giants’ defense hasn’t been great this season overall. In the last three weeks, however, with their offense suffering most of the time, the defense has given up only 29 combined points. The Giants haven’t looked good and are off most people’s radar, but their defense is playing better, and the offense can’t help but see an uptick.

Take the Points on the Road Dog

Anyone who watched either of these two teams last week knows a bet on either side isn’t an easy move to make. While not holding the Giants’ defense in tremendously high regard, they are playing better and making some plays. The Giants’ offense isn’t poised to thrive upon the return of Jones, but there should be more productivity, with the addition of Barkley looking like he’s fully back from an early-season injury. In a situation where it’s hard to find a ton of hope, there might be slightly more of it detectable on the Giants’ sideline this week. I’ll go with the Giants in this one.

Loot’s Prediction to Cover the Point Spread: I’m betting on the New York Giants plus 2.5 points.