The New York Football Giants travel west to San Francisco in search of gold and a win on “Thursday Night Football” against the 49ers.
But oddsmakers have no faith in the short-handed Giants — who will be missing starting left tackle Andrew Thomas and All-Pro running back Saquon Barkley — as the 49ers are 10.5-point favorites on Caesars Sportsbook.
While Daniel Jones likely will be running for his life from Nick Bosa and Co., what does history say when the Giants are placed in the role of massive underdogs?
After years of playing competitive football throughout the 2000s and 2010s, the Giants have spent far too much time as double-digit underdogs in recent years.
Get an edge on games with our expert sports betting picks.
Sign up for Post Picks today.
From 2000-17, the Giants were at least 10-point underdogs just six times. They covered against the spread (ATS) in five of those games and won three straight-up (SU).
Upon Dave Gettleman’s hiring as GM in 2017, the Giants inexplicably were double-digit underdogs 11 times in his four years, which can be described as unmitigated disaster.
In total, the Giants have spent 13 games as double-digit underdogs since Oct. 2017, going 8-5 ATS and 2-11 SU.
They have covered both times as double-digit underdogs with their new power regime under general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll, although they lost both games.
That 8-5 ATS record could be a bit better, too, as the end of the 2021 season marked the end for Gettleman, who was on his way out while the Giants tanked.
| Game | Result | Cover? | Win? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 15, 2017: Giants vs. Broncos (-17.5) | 23-10 | Yes | Yes |
| Dec. 3, 2017: Giants vs. Raiders (-10) | 17-24 | Yes | No |
| Oct. 10, 2019: Giants vs. Patriots (-17.5) | 14-35 | No | No |
| Oct. 4, 2020: Giants vs. Rams (-13.5) | 9-17 | Yes | No |
| Nov. 2, 2020: Buccaneers vs. Giants (-13) | 25-23 | Yes | No |
| Dec. 6, 2020: Giants vs. Seahawks (-11) | 17-12 | Yes | Yes |
| Dec. 27, 2020: Giants vs. Ravens (-10) | 13-27 | No | No |
| Nov. 1, 2021: Giants vs. Chiefs (-10.5) | 17-20 | Yes | No |
| Nov. 22, 2021: Giants vs. Buccaneers (-10.5) | 10-30 | No | No |
| Dec. 19, 2021: Cowboys (-11) vs. Giants | 21-6 | No | No |
| Dec. 26, 2021: Giants vs. Eagles (-11) | 10-34 | No | No |
| Nov. 24, 2022: Giants vs. Cowboys (-10) | 20-28 | Yes | No |
| Jan. 8, 2022: Giants vs. Eagles (-17) | 16-22 | Yes | No |
That time was a disaster for Giants fans, as they were non-competitive and double-digit dogs to the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Eagles, covering none of those games.
The thing about the 2023 Giants is that they are meant to be competitive now, even without Barkley.
And everyone says running backs don’t impact a game as much as you think.
So, let’s put that theory to the test.
Can the Giants cover 10.5 points on Thursday night without their running back?
If you eliminate the embarrassing Gettleman tank job debacle at the end of 2021, Big Blue would be 8-2 ATS as big underdogs.
Do with that what you will.
BetMGM reported to The Post that 78 percent of the bets (number of bets) are on the favored 49ers -10.5, but just 62 percent of the handle (total money) is on San Francisco.
This would theoretically point to larger bettors in smaller numbers (sharp players) on Big Blue on Thursday night.