Cowboys vs. Giants Sunday Night Football NFL Week 1 Opening Odds
The NFL has announced that the first “Sunday Night Football” game of the year will be the John Harbaugh-led New York Giants hosting the Dallas Cowboys. This is the first divisional matchup to be on SNF since—believe it or not—the Cowboys blew out the Giants 40-0 in 2023.
Last year, we had one of the best games of the year on SNF, with the Buffalo Bills edging out the Baltimore Ravens 41-40. Any game is going to have a hard time following that one.
That said, the Giants have a new big-name head coach, a young core, and one of the best prospects in the draft, Arvell Reese. As for the Cowboys, they drafted Caleb Downs in the first round, a teammate of Reese at Ohio State.
This will certainly be a better game than the 2023 iteration. Below, we’ll cover the opening odds and my best bet prediction using odds from DraftKings Sportsbook.
Cowboys vs Giants Week 1 Opening Odds for Sunday Night Football
Let’s discuss the opening odds for the moneyline, point spread, and total in this matchup.
Cowboys vs. Giants Point Spread
The Cowboys are -1.5-point favorites (-110) while the Giants are +1.5-point home underdogs. This point spread is right on par with what I would’ve expected. The Giants have their best head coach since the Tom Coughlin days, so it makes sense to give them more credit with Harbaugh on board. In addition to Reese, they took Francis Mauigoa to assist on the offensive line and got some corner help with Colton Hood.
As for the Cowboys, their offense will continue playing well, but their offensive line will have an endless supply of pass rushers to deal with from the Giants. That said, the Cowboys’ Achilles heel last year was their defense, and they loaded up with talent, spending five of their seven draft picks on that side of the ball, including on Downs and edge rusher Malachi Lawrence.
Cowboys vs. Giants Moneyline
The Cowboys are the road team, so it makes sense that this moneyline would be closer with the Cowboys at -125 and the Giants at +105.
One story to follow this offseason will be George Pickens and whether or not he’ll play on the franchise tag. It’s not being positioned as a problem for now, but as we saw last year with Micah Parsons, Jerry Jones isn’t afraid to do something unorthodox.
Cowboys vs. Giants Game Total
The total in this game is set at 47.5, with the odds favoring the over at -115 compared to the under at -105.
Thus, the implied team total for the Cowboys is 24.5, while the Giants is at 23.
Initially, this was somewhat surprising, but Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart started against the Cowboys in Week 18 last year and played well, completing 68.8% of his passes for 230 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, and also ran five times for 32 yards in a 34-1 win7 win.
The Cowboys were the worst defense in the league last year in points allowed per game, surrendering 30.1. I expect it will improve with their draft additions, the acquisition of Rashan Gary in a trade, and the hiring of new defensive coordinator Christian Parker.
Cowboys vs. Giants Week 1 Sunday Night Football Best Bet & Prediction
It’s still quite early, I’m taking the Giants at +1.5 at home in Harbaugh’s regular-season debut as head coach.
The Giants added Reese, who can both rush the passer and play off the ball, along with more offensive line protection for Dart in Mauigoa. They also took a big-bodied wide receiver in Malachi Fields in the third round to line up opposite Malik Nabers.
Speaking of which, Nabers should be back in plenty of time coming off the torn ACL, and in Week 2 last year, including overtime, Nabers caught nine passes on 13 targets for 167 yards and two touchdowns against the Cowboys.
The Giants have an obscene number of pass rushers. Additionally, I believe in Dart, Nabers is a top wide receiver, and Harbaugh will have them ready to come out strong at home in Week 1 on SNF.
Best Bet: NYG +1.5 (-110)
Photo Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
