In what's already been an interesting start to the NFL season, Sunday Night Football gives us a battle between brothers this week when Eli Manning and his New York Giants pay a visit to Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts at the Oil Can (8:20 pm Eastern, NBC).
The Giants are 1-0, having opened this season with a 31-18 win over Carolina at their new Meadowlands home last Sunday. New York trailed at the half, but outscored the Panthers 17-2 in the second half for the victory. The G-Men outrushed Carolina 118-89 and outgained the Panthers 376-237, although they did turn the ball over four times. And they covered the BetJamaica.com pointspread as 5.5-point home favorites. The game also played OVER its total of 40.5.
Indy is 0-1 after opening with a 34-24 loss at Houston Sunday, allowing the Texans to run for 257 yards. In playing catch-up for most of the game, the Colts ran the ball just 10 times, for a total of 44 yards, and threw it 57 times. Indy lost outright as one-point road favorites, and the game played OVER its total of 47.5 thanks to four touchdowns in the final nine minutes.
Earlier this week BetJamaica.com opened the Colts as 5.5-point favorites for Sunday night's game over the Giants, with an OVER/UNDER of 47. As of Friday afternoon Indy had been dropped a half-point to -5, while the total had been bet up to 48.5.
The Colts are also listed at -240 on the BetJam NFL betting moneyline, with New York getting +200 to win the game outright.
On the injury front the Colts will once again be without S Bob Sanders, after he tore a biceps in Houston last Sunday. Sanders had surgery earlier this week and is out indefinitely. And New York's injury list runs a good half-dozen deep. So bettors may want to consult the updated lists before betting this game.
These two teams last met early in the 2006 season at Giants Stadium, when the Colts beat New York 26-21 in the first-ever Manning Bowl.
On the BetJamaica.com NFL futures market the Giants are getting +950 to win the NFC championship this season, and +2,000 to win Super Bowl 45 down in Arlington in February. Indianapolis, meanwhile, is getting +400 to repeat as champions of the AFC, and +1,000 to win the Super Bowl.
Last week NFL totals leaned toward the UNDERS by an 11-4-1 margin, as the 16 Week 1 games averaged less than 37 points per.
And home teams went 12-4 straight up, 10-5-1 vs. the BetJamaica.com pointspreads.
Also, teams that outrushed their opponents last week went 12-4 SU and 11-4-1 vs. the numbers.