New York Giants vs San Francisco 49ers: Finding solutions

Injuries

Niners have some real issues with injuries on offense. Their Top 5 skill players are all out for this game. Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a high ankle sprain and will be replaced by Nick Muller in this one. He'll have a shortage of receivers to help him out, since Deebo Samuel hasn't started practicing yet and George Kittle is also out after injuring his knee in Week 1. Usually, I'd say that if there is a team that can play through injuries like these, it's the Niners. They would lean heavily on their running game and grind out the win.

But unfortunately for them, they are missing their best two running backs as well! Yes, Mostert and Coleman are also out. But, considering that the OL is healthy and their running game is a well oiled machine, I think Jerrick McKinnon will slide right into that starting spot and manage to be productive. Similar with Mullens who has some starting experience and should be able to handle the role of a game manager. Something Jimmy G has been doing recently. With the running game doing such a good job, Shanahan is not asking a lot from his quarterbacks.

Fallen star

Giants are in a better situation, but not by much. They lost their star running back Saquon Barkley for the season, after he tore his ACL in their previous game at Chicago. Even with such a talent in the backfield, they really struggled to run the ball in the first two games. OL is simply not blocking well enough and I don't see Wayne Gallman or newly signed Devontae Freeman bringing this running game to life by themself. It will force them to throw the ball more and become obvious with it. Being one-dimensional and obvious with the play selection is always a bad position to be in, when we talk about the NFL.

Points scored reveal it, but I believe we saw some improvements from Daniel Jones in the first two weeks. He seemed to have a good connection with his receivers, especially Darius Slayton. The ball is coming out of his hand nicely, everything seems in rhythm and smooth. But, scheduling did him no favors so far. Facing two elite defenses in the first two games vs Steelers and Bears and looking ahead to 49ers', which are not that far behind.

Giants vs 49ers betting tips

With all these injuries on both offenses, I'm surprised to see this total being available at 43 right now. Missing all these starters will hurt the offensive efficiency and also force the coaches to adjust their gameplans. For example, I doubt Shanahan will call many passing plays on early downs in this one with Mullens under center. Especially with Giants improving their secondary play this year. Mostly thanks to some strong moves in the offseason, when they added James Bradberry and Logan Ryan.

There is also a player prop that I like in this game. I already wrote about Jerrick McKinnon and all the playing time that he'll get in this game. He was always a pretty versatile back with the ability to contribute as a receiver out of the backfield. Combining that fact with the tendency of Shanahan to call well-designed screens for his running backs at any time, makes a perfect combination for this bet - Jerrick McKinnon over 17.5 receiving yards

Also, don't forget to check out our new feature for comparing outright odds. These two opponents are both part of the NFC conference. Odds for winning it can be found with this link: https://theplayer.com/odds/american-football/usa/nfl/nfl-nfc-conference-winner