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As the 2022 NFL season began, oddsmakers didn’t have high expectations for the Giants. They were coming off a four-win season in 2021 and had five straight seasons with six wins or fewer after going through three head coaches before hiring Brian Daboll in the offseason.
Boy what a difference that move has made. The Giants erased the blemishes of those previous losing seasons with their first playoff run since 2016, while boasting the league’s best record against the margin (13-4) and consistently rewarding bettors who believe in one of the NFL’s biggest long shots believed in preseason.
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So, ahead of the team’s first playoff game in six seasons, here are the betting highlights and potential winners from a season the Giants will remember:
Winning season stuns bookmakers
In almost every respect, the odds makers were pessimistic about the Giants entering the year. And almost all of those concerns were allayed before the regular season even ended.
Priced just 6.5 games at BetMGM – which is the fifth-lowest mark in the entire league – the Giants were down to -250 cards to miss the playoffs. Incredibly, after a 7-2 start midway through the season, they conceded the over for their aggregate wins, but the team remained underdogs for most of the regular season, making the playoffs.
That turned around for good after a crucial win over Washington in Week 15, ending a four-game winning streak and all but guaranteeing New York a place in the wildcard round. And while the Giants’ broad attempt to win the division (+750) fell a few games short, they’re currently trading at 66/1 to win the Super Bowl — a far cry from their 150/1 price tag in enter the year for some books.
Daniel JonesGetty Images
An award-winning campaign
While many futures markets have been evaluated after the end of the regular season, the league’s annual awards are still awaiting final results. And New York will have a few bites of the apple.
Running back star Saquon Barkley, who has missed 18 games in the last two seasons with knee and ankle injuries, has the lowest odds (+175) with Geno Smith of winning NFL Comeback Player of the Year. He’s got a pretty darn good case for it, too. After rushing for just 593 yards in 13 games last year, Barkley ranked fourth in rushing yards (1,312) and ninth in rushing touchdowns in 2022 on his way to his first Pro Bowl success since his rookie season in 2018 (10).
Though he almost certainly won’t win it, edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux owns the fourth-lowest Defensive Rookie of the Year rating (66/1) after an inspired run to close the year. In his last three starts, the fifth pick in the April draft had 23 combined tackles and five tackles for loss — ranked fifth-best by any player since Week 15 — and his strip sack result against Washington was arguably the biggest game of the season the giants.
Kayvon ThibodeauxIcon Sportswire via Getty Images
And then there’s Daboll, who would be a good bet for Coach of the Year in almost any other season. He’s currently 14/1 behind three other great contenders, but that shouldn’t take away from the incredible job he did in leading New York from preseason to their second-place finish in the playoffs since winning the Super Bowl won in the 2011/12 season.
Speaking of which, there’s one big honor left to win: Super Bowl MVP. The Giants’ best shot at making money in this market is polarizing passer Daniel Jones (66/1), who may seem crazy until you remember that his predecessor Eli Manning won the award twice (2008, 2012 ). Barkley is 80/1 on BetMGM to win it and as high as 150/1 elsewhere, while Thibodeaux, receiver Darius Slayton and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence are all rated 500/1 long shots.
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