It’s a dead rubber with nothing to play for, except that’s never really true in the National Football League. The Washington Football Team and New York Giants are locked into the third and fourth spots in the NFC East — that can’t change, but both teams will be hungry to end the season on a high.
The game might not matter when it comes to the playoffs, but there are plenty of bets to be won, so don’t miss our NFL picks and predictions for Washington vs Giants on Sunday, January 9.
Washington vs Giants odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Since the lines opened, we’ve seen the total points drop slightly from 39 to 38. Meanwhile, the WFT has gone from 6.5 to 7-point favorites.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full NFL odds before placing your bets.
Washington vs Giants predictions
Predictions made on 1/7/2022 at 10:25 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Washington vs Giants game info
• Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
• Date: Sunday, January 9, 2022
• Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
• TV: FOX
Washington at Giants betting preview
Weather
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Key injuries
Washington: Saahdiq Charles T (Out), Curtis Samuel WR (Out), Ricky Seals-Jones (Out), Montez Sweat DE (Out), William Jackson CB (Out), JD McKissic RB (Out), Logan Thomas TE (Out), Ryan Fitzpatrick QB (Out), Chase Young DE (Out), Jon Bostic LB (Out).
Giants: Mike Glennon QB (Out), John Ross WR (Out), Kadarius Toney WR (Out), Daniel Jones QB (Out), Sterling Shepard WR (Out), Jabrill Peppers S (Out).
Find our latest NFL injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Under is 4-0 in the Giants’ past four home games against teams with a losing road record. Find more NFL betting trends for Washington vs. Giants.
Washington vs Giants picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Spread analysis
There isn’t really much riding on this game but pride, with both teams in the doldrums of the NFC East and with no hope of a playoff spot. Neither Washington nor the Giants have played up to their potential this season, for multiple reasons including injuries and bad coaching.
This game’s most interesting narrative is that this could be the final ever game for the Washington Football Team, with the franchise announcing their new name in February. The move away from their dated moniker felt like the start of a new chapter when it was combined with the improvements under Ron Rivera. That has stagnated this season and the feel-good factor isn’t as visible in Washington as it was last year.
Where do you point the blame for Washington’s poor season? There have to be question marks over the coaching, and the decline in their defense, in particular, has been a real concern. WFT are now ranked 26th in weighted defensive DVOA, behind the Giants who were placed in 16th. That’s an absolutely massive decline from last year, when they became darlings of the NFL and had one of the most feared defenses in the league.
Besides the defensive woes, there have been other factors, with injuries causing serious problems. The injury to Ryan Fitzpatrick early in the season set the tone, and since then, pretty much every player on their offense has had injuries of some sort. Despite everything, the locker room still seems to rally behind Ron Rivera and they have belief in their head coach.
That is in stark contrast to New York, where it’s clear that the players have mentally moved on from Joe Judge. Judge has won just 10 games in nearly two seasons as HC of the New York Giants, but he now must surely leave the franchise if they want to progress. Judge has no intention of taking responsibility for the team’s failings, and after the heavy 29-3 defeat to the Bears, he stuck to time, blaming his players in an extraordinary rant after the game. That doesn’t fly in professional sports and the players are said to be angry with him.
Washington’s defense might not have played at the level which we expected of them after last season, but their offense is considerably better than that of the Giants. They’ve scored 62 more points across the season and do still have some fit players in Terry McLaurin and potentially Antonio Gibson. There are reports that Washington will give bench players some run — and that would obviously impact our decision-making, but the Giants are pretty much already there. Their defense might be okay but they’re on their QB3 Jake Fromm and have barely any receivers who aren’t at least questionable.
Don’t worry about the reports of Washington fielding a preseason-level team, they’re a better-coached team who haven’t already given up. Whatever happens, they’ll be fighting for Rivera, and I’m taking them to cover the spread.
Prediction: Washington -7 (-105)
Over/Under analysis
This season, the Giants have averaged just 15.7 points scored per game. Now, they’re playing with Fromm under center and not Daniel Jones or even Mike Glennon. Washington isn’t much better, scoring just 19.6, and there are now rumors that it could be fielding a weaker team than usual.
On season averages, you’d be expecting this game to finish with 35.3 points. The total is already very low at 38 points, but I’d be backing the Under here.
When you look at the trends, everything is pointing us toward backing the Under too. The Under is 11-1 in the Giants’ past 12 games against teams with a losing record, and 9-1-1 in their last 11 games as a home underdog.
Things also back us taking the Under from Washington’s side too. The Under is 4-1 in Washington’s past five games as a road favorite. Not only that, but it’s also 11-3 in its past 14 games following an ATS win.
These are two poor offenses who we believe will both likely be playing at least a couple of second-stringers — that doesn’t bode well for production, and everything points towards this game being Under 38 total points.
Prediction: Under 38 (-110)
Best bet
I don’t often look at the total points line when I’m considering the best bet for a football game. I prefer to look at player props or even results, but I can’t look beyond backing the Under here.
As mentioned above these are two poor teams who we can’t rely on to put up a lot of points. Take the Under and be happy with it, it makes sense.
Pick: Under 38 (-110)
