Written by :
Published on :
The New York Giants odds to win the 2009 Super Bowl were listed at 2/1 heading into Sunday's loss against the Minnesota Vikings. These odds should not change over the next two weeks.
The Giants (12-4) gave the Vikings a break well before the Sunday game started by beating the Carolina Panthers last week to clinch the top seed and gain home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
Derrick Ward, who fueled last week's win over the Panthers, gave the Giants two 1,000-yard rushers -- only the fourth such running back tandem in NFL history -- by finishing with 77 yards on 15 carries. Brandon Jacobs got there earlier this month. The last set of teammates to do that in the same season was Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner of the Cleveland Browns in 1985.
The Giants put four starters on the inactive list: Jacobs (knee), tight end Kevin Boss (ankle), cornerback Aaron Ross (concussion) and nose tackle Barry Cofield (knee). Quarterback Eli Manning was joined on the sideline by a steady stream of other regulars during the second half. When Jackson found a wide-open Bernard Berrian for a 54-yard touchdown pass to cut New York's lead to two points midway through the fourth quarter, it was a third-string cornerback -- Terrell Thomas -- who fell down trying to cover him.
"They're a very talented team, and we knew coming in they were going to give us everything they had," said Domenik Hixon, who caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from David Carr to give the Giants a 16-10 edge in the third quarter.
Really, it was the Giants who gave the Vikings all they could handle despite a bunch of backups on the field and a clearly conservative offensive strategy in the second half.
"We always talk about improvement and how important improvement is. That's the way to improve right there, under game conditions," New York coach Tom Coughlin said.
Vinnie Iyer of Sporting News says "Don't be fooled by the seeding in both the NFC and AFC -- as usual, that's only a tool to set up where and whom every team plays based on what happened in the regular season.
"In the playoffs, the numbers assigned to the team mean little -- just ask last year's Giants. If any team seems like the best bet, it would be the one that won Super Bowl 42. Until the defending champions are eliminated, they deserve to be ranked best, above the rest of this year's playoff team."
Iyer, like Gambling911.com, still rank the New York Giants number one among all NFL teams.
"Once again, they go in as the most battle-tested team, with the bonus of a first-round bye and a free ticket to the second round. They played 6 of the other 11 playoff teams, going 5-2 in those matchups. Last year, the challenge was replacing Jeremy Shockey in the intermediate passing game. This year, they need to find a big-play threat to replace Plaxico Burress.
"If the Giants are to win it all again, it still comes down to their two trademarks -- a prolific power running game led by Brandon Jacobs and an aggressive pass rush led by Justin Tuck."
Sportsbook.com was offering odds on all teams chances to win the 2009 Super Bowl plus giving out a 10 percent cash bonus on all new deposits.
