Giants Are 7-Point Road Underdogs at the Rams, Down From 8.5 at the Open
ESPN's Football Power Index projects a 4.5-point Rams win. No sportsbook on Action Network's board had the Rams favored by more than 7.5 as of Tuesday midday, a day after McVay said Garrett is set to be placed on injured reserve.
DraftKings listed the Los Angeles Rams as 7-point favorites over the Giants for Monday night, with the Giants at +280 on the moneyline and the total at 48.5, as of 12:42 p.m. ET Tuesday, per ESPN's odds page. The same page lists the game's opening spread at Rams -8.5 and the opening total at 47.5.
That is a point and a half off the open. Three sportsbooks posted a price on Action Network's board as of 12:36 p.m. ET Tuesday: bet365 had the Rams -7.5, and DraftKings and Fanatics both had -7. Chris Pflum of Big Blue View reported early Monday that FanDuel opened the Giants at +8.5. ESPN's Monday roundup listed the game at Rams -7 without a line-movement note; ESPN's odds page shows the spread opened at -8.5.
ESPN's Football Power Index projects a 4.5-point Rams win and gives them a 66% chance to win outright, per that roundup. FPI is a computer projection, not a price, and the two numbers are about three points apart.
ESPN's futures board had the Rams at +650 to win the Super Bowl as of 12:42 p.m. ET Tuesday, the shortest price on the board, ahead of Baltimore at +900 and Buffalo at +950. The Rams are 0-1, beaten 27-7 by San Francisco in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept. 10.
Dallas, which the Giants beat 28-20 at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 13, is a 3.5-point home favorite over Washington, down from 4.5 at the open, per the same ESPN odds page as of 12:42 p.m. ET Tuesday. FPI has the Cowboys by 3.8.
Rams coach Sean McVay said Monday that outside linebacker Myles Garrett is set to undergo knee surgery and will be placed on injured reserve, per a team release written by Stu Jackson of therams.com. The Rams acquired Garrett from Cleveland in a trade agreed to on June 1, per the team's transactions page.
"Thought we would take an approach where he'd be feeling good enough to go contribute positive change and be the player that he's capable of," McVay said during a video conference with reporters. "That wasn't the case, and so the next right thing for us is to be able to get this thing fixed."
McVay gave no timeline for a return. The Rams had not filed the move as of 12:43 p.m. ET Tuesday; their transactions page listed no entry after Sept. 10.
No reporting has established what took the spread from 8.5 to 7. Kickoff is 8:15 p.m. ET Monday on ESPN and ABC.
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