5* Best Bet
(NFL) Minnesota vs. NY Giants, 10/21/2013 4:40 PM, Score: 7 - 23
Point Spread: -3.50 | 104.00 NY Giants (Home)
Result: Win
Taking the GIANTS here. Your latest edition of Monday Night Football features teams with a combined record of 1-10. Obviously, this is a disappointing season for both of these clubs. The Vikings felt they were good enough to make a play-off push after they picked up WR Gregg Jennings to help ease the pressure off of AP. And the Giants do have a pair of Super Bowl Titles under their belt over the last 6 years.

So the Vikings have turned to former Tampa 1st round pick Josh Freeman pushing aside their own first rounder from 2011 in Christian Ponder. Ponder and KC cast-off Matt Cassell must have shook their collective heads in disgust when Minny signed Freeman to a three million dollar deal which just happens to be more than either one of them is making. But at this point, does it really matter who is behind center for the Vikings? Freeman could very easily be the answer for them, but the fact is that right now you are really only putting whipped cream on a pile of poop and calling it a sundae! When you are completing just 45% of your passes, you aren't going to be an NFL quarterback very long. Vikings were smacked right in their mouth last week in a humbling 35-10 loss to the Panthers. That was on the heels of their bye week after a trip to London. They had plenty of time to recoup and to game plan on defense for Cam Newton and they still were blitzed out of their own building.

The New York Giants can say to themselves, we need two things to stop happening. One, Eli Manning has to stop throwing interceptions like it's his job. And two, the defense has to somehow find a way to keep opposing offenses from camping out in the end-zone. Unfortunately for New York, those two aspects of the game could be argued are the most important to getting you victories and right now they sit at the bottom of the league in those categories. Eli Manning has thrown 15 INTs in the Giants 0-6 start. He threw that many in the entire season last year. Eli though isn't the only culprit though. The defense is getting lit up like a Christmas tree allowing a league worse 34.8 ppg. Let's not be fooled by Brandon Jacobs in last Thursday's game vs the Bears. Chicago was banged up and defense. For the Giants to break this slide they are going to need Eli to connect with Cruz and Nicks often. He can't be throwing INTs in the flat to his RBs.

The numbers show us that Minnesota is 4-1 ATS last 5 in the series and the road team 7-1 ATS last 8. But let's not get all warm and fuzzy inside over that. The most recent game was nearly 3 years ago. There won't be any Tavarius Jackson or Joe Webb sightings in the Meadowlands here on Monday night.

Simple thinking for me here for sure, but I am calling for the NEW YORK GIANTS to get into the win column. Eli needs a win. He is a head and shoulders above any of the potential quarterbacks that Minny will trot out behind center tonight. The defense is not a great unit. You are not going to get any argument from me that it is. But they will be facing a QB in a new system who will be asked to ‘manage' a game and hand the ball off early and often. The Giants players have too much respect for their coach to lay an egg here on MNF. Sitting at 0-6, this team will look to redeem some pride in themselves in front of their peers on ESPN tonight. 5* Best Bet NY GIANTS