Week 13 of the NFL season has been a crazy one, with plenty of underdogs winning outright. It’s about time the dogs start barking this season, and underdogs are 10-5 ATS this week, so far. Will Jaxson Dart’s return under center for the Giants help improve that underdog ATS record? We’ll find out on MNF tonight…

The Commanders just put up a fight on SNF against the Broncos, one of the “best teams in the NFL” (shoutout the Commanders), covering the +6 spread with ease in OT. In the four primetime games before that, the underdog won outright in all of them (on Thanksgiving and Black Friday). Here’s a breakdown of how the underdogs have performed over the last week or so…

Denver @ Washington: DEN 27, WSH 26 (OT), WSH +6 ✅

Chicago @ Philadelphia: CHI 24, PHI 15, CHI +7* ✅

Cincinnati @ Baltimore: CIN 32, BAL 14, CIN +7* ✅

Kansas City @ Dallas: DAL 31, KC 28, DAL +3.5* ✅

Green Bay @ Detroit: GB 31, DET 24, GB +2.5* ✅

* = underdog won outright

We’ve got another interesting primetime matchup tonight, between the Giants and the Patriots. The G-Men get their star young QB back for tonight, and you can’t deny how impressive he’s looked since taking over under center. Although, anyone is better than this recent version of Russell Wilson we’ve been seeing this season. With their sparkplug back in the lineup, will the Giants end their six game losing streak on MNF tonight?

The Patriots have been one of the biggest surprises this season, mainly because of the newfound stability with Mike Vrabel and sophomore leap Drake Maye has taken under center. They have won nine games in a row, and are looking to make it ten in a row at home tonight on MNF. I don’t care how talented a team is, it’s extremely impressive to win that many games in a row in this league. The question is, will the Patriots end this prime-time underdog streak tonight, or will the Giants shock the world and hand New England their first loss in nearly four months?

Would you be surprised if I told you the Patriots haven’t beaten the Giants since 2019? They’ve only played once since then, but it’s been a while since New England has won against the G-Men. These two teams obviously have some recent Super Bowl history as well, with the Giants getting the better of the Patriots in both of them. For tonight, it seems like Vegas is expecting a New England victory, making them 7.5 point favorites at home. I could make an argument that the spread looks a little short with the Patriots playing at Gillette Stadium… I wouldn’t have been shocked if they were laying closer to 9.5 points against this 2-10 Giants team, but maybe they are putting some respect on Jaxson Dart’s name.

I’m willing to bet the Giants keep this game close tonight. They probably won’t win outright like a lot of the underdogs have in primetime recently, but I do think they keep it within a touchdown on MNF tonight. Don’t look now, but the Giants have actually covered in each of their last three games (shoutout Jameis), and the Patriots have had more close calls than I’m sure they’d like over the past month or so. The Pats certainly look like the easy parlay piece for tonight, and we know how that typically goes…

The media asked Jaxson Dart if he was going to change his play style when returning from one of his many injuries this season. He denied changing his play style, but the Giants’ coaches have made it clear he needs to play more conservative if he wants to stay on the field. I’m sure if his pocket breaks down, Dart will still run for a first down or two in this game, but expect him to look to pass more… especially until the Giants get in the redzone. That could actually benefit the Giants tonight, as the Patriots run defense ranks second in the NFL so far this season.

In honor of the 11 year anniversary of Odell Beckham Jr.’s unbelievable catch this weekend, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Giants had a little magic on MNF tonight. Take them on the spread, and back another underdog to cover in a primetime game this week. Week 13 has been the week of the underdog, don’t expect that to slow down as the Giants look to shock the world and beat the Patriots again on primetime, something they’ve done plenty of over the years.