Game: New York Giants vs. New England Patriots

Date: December 1st at 8:15 PM ET

Where to Watch: ESPN

December football kicks off on Monday night in Foxborough, Massachusetts, with a matchup between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. It’s a meeting of two teams in completely opposite positions—one already eliminated from playoff contention and the other fighting for the No. 1 overall seed in its conference.

New York’s 2–10 record doesn’t fully reflect how competitive they’ve been, as many of their games have come down to a single possession. Their offense has been respectable, ranking 11th in yards per game (348.5) and 22nd in points per game (22). Defensively, however, it has been a major struggle: they rank 30th in both yards allowed (385 per game) and points allowed (27.8 per game).

New England, meanwhile, hasn’t lost since Week 3 and enters this game riding a league-best nine-game win streak, sitting at 10–2 overall. They field a top 10 offense, ranking 8th in yards per game (359.9) and 7th in scoring (26.5). Defensively, they’ve been even stronger—7th in yards allowed (301.2) and 4th in points allowed (18.8).

While this matchup looks lopsided on paper, the Giants have shown all season that they don’t roll over easily—especially under the bright lights of a national primetime game.

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Weather

There’s nothing crazy weather-wise in this one outside of the freezing temperatures, as the game will be played in the mid-20s throughout. Winds should be minimal, averaging around 4 mph with gusts near 5 mph, and there’s a 0% chance of precipitation.

Betting Overview

From a betting perspective, this matchup has seen notable movement since the preseason. The spread opened with New England at -3, but the Patriots are now favored by 7 to 7.5 points. The moneyline has shifted as well, with New York moving to +320 (from +130) and New England to -350 (from -155). The total has also seen a significant jump, rising from 42.5 to 46.5.

Position Group & Coaching Comparisons

Coaching: This is one of the easier categories to evaluate. New York has already gone through a midseason coaching shake-up after firing Brian Daboll a few weeks ago, with interim head coach Mike Kafka stepping in from his offensive coordinator role. On the other side, New England’s staff under Mike Vrabel has been outstanding, and the work Josh McDaniels has done with this offense has been particularly impressive. Clear edge to the Patriots.

DLs vs. OLs: New England took a major hit with Will Campbell sidelined for at least four weeks, which disrupts their offensive line in a big way. That loss gives the Giants a noticeable advantage in the trenches, as their defensive line remains a strong unit and their offensive line has held up reasonably well.

QBs: Even though the Giants don’t have much left to play for, this still sets up an exciting quarterback matchup between Jaxon Dart and Drake Maye. Dart returns from a concussion, while Maye has been extremely efficient all season. The Patriots get the edge here based on Maye’s performance.

RBs & TEs vs. LBs: Neither team has been particularly dynamic in this portion of the game, and the Giants are dealing with more injuries on offense. With New York also banged up at linebacker, New England earns the advantage in this category.

WRs vs. Secondaries: The Giants have a legitimately strong secondary—better than New England’s in this matchup—but the Patriots simply have the superior receiving corps. That balance gives New England the overall edge on the outside.

Betting Trends

Even though their straight-up record isn’t impressive, the Giants still hold a solid 7–5 ATS mark. On the road, they’re 4–3 (all as underdogs) and 2–1 in non-conference play. Totals have leaned toward the over in 7 of their 12 games, including 4 of 7 on the road. However, in non-conference matchups the under has hit in 2 of 3.

New England has also been strong ATS at 7–4–1 this season. At home, they’re 2–3–1 with a 2–2–1 record as a home favorite. They’ve been reliable against non-conference opponents as well, sitting at 3–1 ATS. Totals are split evenly at 6 overs and 6 unders overall. At home, they’ve also split 3–3, though overs have hit in 3 of 5 when they’re home favorites. In non-conference games, the over has cashed in 3 of 4.

Final Thoughts

This matchup certainly doesn’t showcase the strongest records, but it does set up to be a competitive game. Because of that, I think the Giants can cover the 7.5 points. With both teams missing key pieces on each side of the ball, the total is tough to call, but I’d lean toward the under in this spot.