Giants at Cardinals: Preview, prediction, odds and pick

The game between the Giants and the Cardinals in Week 16 may not mean anything, but these two teams will still provide some fun on Christmas Eve.

While a lot of games in Week 16 this weekend will have a ton of playoff implications for divisional titles, seeding and home-field advantage, some games will have no real weight to them. On Sunday, that’ll be the case when  the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals play in Glendale.

The Giants were eliminated from the playoffs all the way back in Week 12, and it signals just how bad their struggles in the 2017 campaign have been. Between seemingly endless injuries, coaching issues and even having their head coach and general manager fired with just a few weeks left in the regular season, nothing has gone right for the Giants this year.

For once, however, the Giants will match up with a team that has been just as unlucky in their season. The Cardinals looked like they could be a strong team in a wide-open NFC West at the start of the year, but injuries to David Johnson and Carson Palmer early in the year derailed the train before it could even really get going on the tracks. Now, they’re just playing to get to .500 on the year.

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Odds: Cardinals -3.5, according to Odds Shark

The Cardinals are the slight favorite in this game, but with Blaine Gabbert under center for the boys in red, anything is possible on Sunday. Both teams don’t have much to work with offensively, so this will likely be a low scoring affair on both sides.

In the spirit of the big man with his bag of toys coming on Monday morning, I’m giving the edge to the team wearing the same color as Santa’s suit on Sunday. The Cardinals should win a close one here, heading into the holiday with a little extra cheer to work with.

Prediction: Cardinals 16, Giants 13