Giants vs. Washington Thursday NFL injury report, odds, spread, pick: Evan Engram out, Saquon Barkley questionable; Big Blue best NFL road bet past 3 seasons

The New York Giants have lost seven straight prime-time game, but for whatever reason quarterback Daniel Jones has had career success against the Washington Football Team as the teams meet in Maryland on Thursday to kick off Week 2. The Giants are 3.5-point underdogs without tight end Evan Engram and perhaps running back Saquon Barkley but have been the NFL's best against the spread road wager over the past three seasons.

At Caesars Sportsbook, 62 percent of all tickets sold are on Washington to cover the spread and 58 percent of money wagered. The spread has vacillated between 3-3.5 all week. The total of 40.5 points is easily the lowest on the Week 2 board. A total of 52 percent of tickets are on the Over but 53 percent of money on the Under.

Since 2018, the Giants are an NFL-worst 6-18-1 ATS at home, including last Sunday's 27-13 loss to Denver, but over the same span an NFL-best 18-6 ATS on the road. Go figure. Turnover-prone QB Daniel Jones is 4-0 in his career vs. Washington with zero fumbles lost compared to 4-19 against all other teams with 18 fumbles lost. In his prime-time career, Jones is 0-5 with 12 turnovers. The Giants' seven-game prime-time losing streak is tied for the longest active in the NFL with Dallas.

On the flip side, Washington is 1-6 straight up in its past seven prime-time games and head coach Ron Rivera is 8-15 ATS in his career under the lights dating to his Carolina days. This writer backed Washington on the moneyline. 

Back on Monday, we touched on the fact that Washington lost starting QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to a hip injury in its Week 1 home loss to the LA Chargers and that Taylor Heinicke will make his first regular-season start since December 2018 with Rivera's Panthers. The WFT seems in good injury shape otherwise.

The Giants have ruled out Engram for the second straight game as well as offensive lineman Shane Lemieux. He started at left guard for the Giants in their season-opening loss to the Broncos but played only 17 of the 61 snaps on offense because of knee issues. Fairly recent trade acquisition Ben Bredeson played most of the snaps Sunday but that doesn't necessarily guarantee he will start this one.

Barkley is not 100 percent yet from his torn ACL suffered early last season and is officially questionable – although most reports out of New York are that he will play. Barkley may not be a huge part of the offense, though, as in Week 1 he only had 28 snaps and carried just 10 times. In three career games vs. Washington, Barkley has averaged 195.7 yards from scrimmage. 

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