The Giants opened as small home underdogs at +1.5 but have since moved to +4 due to the fact that starting QB Eli Manning and his backup Jim Sorgi will not play due to injuries. Manning suffered a gash on his forehead when he lost his helmet after a hit by linebacker Calvin Pace and banged his head against safety Jim Leonhard’s helmet in Monday’s 31-16 rout of the New York Jets. Meanwhile, the Steelers will play suspended QB Ben Roethlisberger for the first time this preseason, although head coach Mike Tomlin has still not revealed whether or not he will start.
Roethlisberger has worked with the starting offense most of the week in practice and could see his suspension cut from six to four games thanks to good behavior, but that is ultimately in the hands of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. He did not play last week in a 23-7 win over Detroit despite a similar scenario that had Tomlin also keeping his decision a secret. Byron Leftwich ended up taking twice as many snaps as Tomlin had originally planned in the starting role while Roethlisberger stayed on the bench. Leftwich completed 6-of-10 passes for 43 yards while second-year QB Dennis Dixon made his case to be the starter in Roethlisberger’s absence early during the regular season by connecting on 6-of-7 for 128 yards and a touchdown.
The only real issue holding Dixon back at this point other than his lack of experience (he has only made one career start) is that he likes to take off running when he does not find an open receiver while Leftwich stays in the pocket and will take a sack rather than throw an interception. Pittsburgh is trying hard to break Dixon of that bad habit and will see how he performs here.
New York’s numerous injuries did not keep the team from making a big statement against nearly everybody’s preseason favorite in the AFC. The Jets were quite simply blown away by the Giants before a nationally televised audience on Monday Night Football, as rookie free agent WR Victor Cruz hauled in three touchdowns and made six catches overall for 146 yards.
Unfortunately for the Giants, they have even more injuries now after beating the Jets, including a torn capsule in the right shoulder of Sorgi. Manning needed 12 stitches on his head while Sorgi will likely miss the rest of the preseason after an impressive outing in which he threw for 146 yards and two touchdowns – both to Cruz – before leaving the game.
That leaves third-string QB Rhett Bomar to take a majority of the snaps for New York against the Steelers. The good news for the Giants comes on the defensive side of the ball, where safety Kenny Phillips and linebacker Keith Bulluck are expected to return from knee injuries.
For our Free NFL Pick lets go with the Giants +4. Sure we are going to have to back the Giants with Rhett Bomar but that was already priced into the line when it was Pitt -3. Expect the public to pile on tomorrow and drive the line past +4. Take the best number available, when in doubt view our NFL betting lines page which has up to the minute point spreads from major offshore sportsbooks.
