Vegas Play of the Day: New York Giants at Washington Redskins

By Case Keefer (contact)

Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014 | 2 a.m.

I might be the only one who’s backed the New York Giants in three of their first four games.

I know I’m the only one who’s done as much in the Sun’s Play of the Day contest, which uses odds from the South Point and a $10,000 starting bankroll.

New York Giants plus-3.5 at Washington Redskins: $550 to win $500

Washington’s secondary was poor enough to start the season. It hasn’t gotten any better now that two key members — DeAngelo Hall and Duke Ihenacho — went down to season-ending injuries in Sunday’s loss against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Talk about bad timing. Washington now had to attempt to get new pieces ready in four days to face a New York team that finally seems to be clicking with offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo’s system.

The Giants showed signs of breaking through on offense in a 25-14 loss to the Cardinals in week 2. They finished the job against the Texans on Sunday, beating them worse than the 30-17 final score indicates.

Running back Rashad Jennings won’t be able to run for nearly 200 yards like he did versus Houston against a strong Washington defensive front, but Eli Manning should torch the backfield. It’s a benefit that all the quarterback talk revolves around Washington’s Kirk Cousins.

The hype may not yet be justified. Cousins has played well in two games this season, but he’s the same guy who was cumulatively terrible in action over his first two years.

Washington is 2-5 straight up in games where Cousins takes the majority of the snaps. That’s not the type of quarterback a bettor should want to back to cover more than a field goal.

Standings: Bern (47-38-1, $12,921), Keefer (43-44, $11,061), Brewer (38-45-3, $5,125)

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.