We’ve reached the midway mark of the NFL season.
Nine weeks are in the books.
Nine weeks remain, with the second half set to kick off on Thursday Night Football.
In the AFC, five teams from four different divisions are shorter than 15-to-1 to reach the Super Bowl in the Buffalo Bills (+230), Jacksonville Jaguars (+360), Kansas City Chiefs (+550), Cincinnati Bengals (+650), and the Denver Broncos (+700).
In the NFC, seven teams are shorter than 15-to-1 to reach the Super Bowl, with all seven coming from two divisions.
The NFC West still features the NFC Championship favourite, only now it’s the San Francisco 49ers at +270, while the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks fell to the third choice at +750, followed closely by the Los Angeles Rams at +800.
Then there’s the NFC North, which features four of the top seven choices to reach the Super Bowl in the NFC.
The Chicago Bears are the second choice to win the NFC title at +420 behind only the 49ers.
The Detroit Lions are tied with Seattle as the third choice at +750, with the Green Bay Packers (+1000) and Minnesota Vikings (+1100) rounding out teams currently shorter than 15-to-1 to win the NFC championship.
All four NFC North teams are considered more likely to make than miss the playoffs at FanDuel this morning.
Meanwhile, the NFC East and NFC South doesn’t feature a single team that is shorter than +2500 to win the NFC Championship at the midway point in the season.
Of course, both divisions will send at least one team to the postseason.
The Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Atlanta Falcons all have three wins in the NFC South.
The New York Giants are in pole position in the NFC East, with a massive opportunity to take another step towards the playoffs with a win on Thursday Night Football.
Can the Giants inch closer to a division title with a win over the Washington Commanders?
Let’s set the stage for TNF and lock in a FanDuel Best Bet in this Morning Coffee for Thursday November 12th, 2026.
Giants Can Climb One Win Closer To Ending NFC’s Longest Division Title Drought On TNF
The Giants are the only team in the NFC East with a winning record at the midway mark of the season.
Coming off back-to-back wins over the Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles on the road, New York returns home with an opportunity to put even more distance between itself and the Dallas Cowboys for first place.
The Giants are 5-2-1 straight up and 2-0-1 versus NFC East opponents, including a head-to-head win over the Dallas Cowboys at 4-5.
A win over Washington combined with a Cowboys loss to the 49ers on Sunday would leave New York 2.5 games up on Dallas in the standings with a head-to-head victory.
The Giants haven’t won an NFC East title since 2011, which is the longest-active division title drought among NFC teams.
New York is a -165 favourite to win the NFC East at FanDuel this morning.
John Harbaugh is the favourite to win AP NFL Coach of the Year at +170 in his first season with the team.
Running back Cam Skattebo practiced this week and is expected to be ready for Thursday Night Football.
J.J. McCarthy is also expected to start after he suffered a hip pointer in Sunday’s win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
McCarthy has the NFL’s longest winning streak by an active quarterback, and he didn’t have to throw a TD pass in wins over the Texans or Eagles.
The 23-year-old has leaned heavily on Malik Nabers in the passing game, and it will be interesting to see if that trend continues tonight with rain and wind expected at MetLife Stadium.
Meanwhile, the Commanders limp into this game on the heels of a 20-13 loss to the Rams on Sunday.
Jayden Daniels threw for 274 yards and a touchdown, but it wasn’t enough as Washington was outscored 14-3 in the second half.
Myles Garrett sacked Daniels three times in his return.
Interestingly, Daniels ran the ball only four times for 16 yards, marking the third straight game he’s failed to clear four rushing attempts or 23 rushing yards.
The last time these teams met in Week 5, Daniels ran for a season-high 103 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries in a 27-27 tie.
He was 17-of-25 for 199 yards and was sacked five times.
After being sacked once in his first two starts, Daniels has been sacked 15 times in four games since he returned from injury.
The combination of the increase in sacks and decrease in rushing yards jumps off the page, especially entering tonight’s game in New York.
Washington ranks 32nd in the NFL in third down conversions with a 31.1 per cent rate.
The Giants lead the NFL in defensive success rate over the past five weeks, and they just sacked Joe Milton seven times in a win over Philadelphia.
However, if this New York defence has one weakness, it’s giving up rushing yards to mobile quarterbacks.
The Giants rank 31st in the NFL with an average of 29.5 rushing yards allowed per game to opposing QBs.
That number is inflated by the season-high 103 rushing yards they gave up to Daniels in Week 5, but Milton just ran for 64 against them on Sunday, while Tyler Shough ran for 32 against them in a Week 6 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Daniels’ mobility is already his best option against the Giants, while the rain and wind should amplify the need for him to make plays with his legs tonight at MetLife.
New York is 5-1-1 against opponents with losing records.
The Giants are coming off wins over Houston and Philadelphia, and now they will have home-field advantage against an inferior opponent on a short week.
Still, the spread for Thursday Night Football has shifted from New York -2.5 to -1.5 at FanDuel.
The Giants are -132 to win this game outright.
Nobody is buying Washington at +650 to win the NFC East this morning, but Daniels has played his best football against division opponents, including a 3-0-1 career record versus New York.
In Week 5, the Giants blitzed Daniels on a season-high 62.2 per cent of his dropbacks.
When pressured, Daniels went 3-for-8 for 45 yards.
He was also sacked a season-high five times.
After taking four more sacks on Sunday, I’ll predict that Daniels wants to avoid getting hit as much as possible, which will lead to him using his legs to move the sticks.
Daniels already leads the NFL in scramble yards, so I expect him to take off when the Giants inevitably blitz.
I’ll lock in Daniels over 36.5 rushing yards as a best bet for Thursday Night Football with Bet Protect + turned on.
Hopefully, a must-win situation, the weather conditions, and an aggressive defence that has struggled to contain mobile quarterbacks adds up to Daniels picking up at least 36 per cent of the rushing production he recorded in this same match-up back in Week 5.
Have a great day, everyone!