The Eagles and Saints have struggled for vastly different reasons this season. They’ll try and figure it out against each other on Sunday. Surprisingly, Philly’s offense has been stagnant, ranking near the bottom of the NFL in every offensive category. Under bettors aren’t complaining, however, as all four of the Eagles games have gone under the total.
ODDS
Philadelphia opened as a 4.5-point favorite with the total at 48. The line has remained steady while the total spiked to 49. The Saints are 1-1 ATS on the road this season, covering two weeks ago in Carolina, and are 5-2 ATS in their last seven roadies.
KEY INJURIES
Thomas Morstead – Suffered a strained quad in the win over Dallas and his status is unclear. The punter ranks first in NFL history with a net average of 41 yards per punt. In case Morstead can’t kick, the Saints signed Brandon Fields.
Byron Maxwell – Injured his quad in last week’s game and sat out practice in advance of New Orleans. A cornerback with a leg injury would become a tempting target for Drew Brees. Rookie Eric Rowe replaced Maxwell in the lineup.
Brandon Bair – Left the game last week with a groin injury and didn’t return. He’s listed as questionable for Sunday. Bennie Logan moved from tackle to end to replace Bair, and Beau Allen stepped in for Logan.
KEY MISMATCH
The Saints rookie class had its best game last week. So did the Saints defense. That’s no coincidence since they’re virtually one and the same. The Saints have eight rookies on defense, including three starters. Those rookies have combined to play nearly one-third of the team’s defensive snaps. Naturally, all of these rookie snaps have led to growing pains for a Saints team that is 1-3, ranks 24th in the NFL in yards allowed per game, and is tied for 23rd in points allowed. But those growing pains have produced growth. The three sacks in last week’s win over Dallas all came from rookies and five of the seven overall have come from first-year players. Linebacker Hau’oli Kikaha has arguably been the best rookie so far as an active, relentless pass rusher who has also forced two fumbles. Stephone Anthony has taken over at middle linebacker and signal caller for the defense. After a quarter of the season can we still call them rookies?
KEY STAT
19.5 – Philadelphia’s average points per game. The Eagles are at or near the bottom in every offensive stat category, but can snap out against the Saints, who surrender 381.5 yards and 26 points per game.
BETTING ANGLE
Fans are abandoning hope, and everybody else is trying to figure out exactly where it went wrong for Chip Kelly. Meanwhile, the latest projection models indicate the last place Eagles actually are the most likely team to finish in first place in the sad NFC East, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. Naturally, many will find this news ridiculous, but it’s not as crazy as it sounds. As Kelly has pointed out, the Eagles are only one or two plays away from being 3-1. So how hard is it to believe a few bad bounces will change direction and a little luck will fall their way? And the Eagles are still only one game back in the standings. The Cowboys are in survival mode without their top two players, nobody had any expectations of the Giants and Washington is Washington.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Always the optimist, Kelly noted his Eagles are a couple of plays away from being 3-1. The reality is Philly is struggling to figure things out offensively. They can’t run the ball, essentially wasting last year’s rushing leader DeMarco Murray. The Eagles managed just 87 yards last week, with 30 of those coming on one play. A bright spot has been the play of quarterback Sam Bradford, who almost bailed his team out last week throwing for 270 yards without a pick. Drew Brees is off the injury list for the Saints and his shoulder is apparently fine. He didn’t throw many downfield passes last week against Dallas and the game plan was successful as he amassed 359 yards and the team had 438. If the young D continues to improve the Saints could be a threat down the road. The Eagles aren’t as bad as the record indicates and they will put a complete together eventually. Unfortunately for the Saints, they’re the ones standing in the way.
Philadelphia 28, New Orleans 25
BookMaker sent out the NFL online odds for this Sunday game at Philadelphia -4.5 with a total of 48.5. Use BookMaker’s live betting feature to bet on this game while it’s happening.
Access live betting lines from your mobile device or tablet at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The game between the New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles is slated for Sunday, October 11, 2015, at 1 p.m. ET at Lincoln Financial Field. The contest will be broadcast regionally on FOX.
