The NFC East has been atrocious all season long, and it's only fitting that both Chip Kelly and Tom Coughlin will face off with one another with their Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants respectively, knowing that both very well could be dismissed once this game is said and done with.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Philadelphia Eagles +3
New York Giants -3
Over/Under OTB
ODDS ANALYSIS
This isn't a preseason game in the technical sense, but about the only thing that's clear is that nothing is ultimately clear. Sure, both Kelly and Coughlin are going to ask their teams to play full bore, but they both asked the same thing last week and both got blown out of the water. This game means squat to both sides, and if either has given up on their coaching staff, the week of preparation could basically all go for naught.
That's why the Giants have opened up at basically just the value of home field advantage at -3.
WHEN THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES HAVE THE BALL
It all starts with the run for the Eagles. Kelly really wants to run the ball about 50 percent of the time, but this year, Philly is putting it in the air 68 percent of the time. The offensive line just isn't holding up at the point of attack, and as a result, DeMarco Murray has become forgotten, Ryan Mathews has been underutilized, and Darren Sproles really only provides a change of pace.
The problem though, is that live bettors can't just assume that what we know about the Eagles is going to be gospel in Week 17 due to the fact that the Giants just let Jerick McKinnon and Adrian Peterson combine for 195 rushing yards and three TDs against them.
It's really all about the point of attack on the line of scrimmage in this game. Neither team is good in this area, and whichever one has more promise will end up likely being the right side in live betting.
WHEN THE NEW YORK GIANTS HAVE THE BALL
If we've learned nothing else over the course of these last couple weeks, it's that the Giants are nothing offensively without Odell Beckham Jr.
OBJ was suspended for last week's game against the Vikes, and Eli Manning went 15-of-29 for 234 yards with three picks as a result. The week before against Carolina, Beckham was largely smothered in the first half by Josh Norman. In the second half, he had most of his 76 yards and his touchdown. Not surprisingly, the Giants fell behind 35-7 without Beckham's presence and stormed back to tie the game at 38-38 when he reappeared as a threat.
The Eagles are awful in the secondary and have been for years. Beckham had just 61 yards and a score in the first meeting of the NFL season, but that was another one of these games where Manning was just under a ton of duress and couldn't get the ball down the field.
Beckham has to stretch the field in this game as well. These 10-yard passes are all fine and dandy, but the Giants need situations where they can get chunks of 40+ yards at a time. OBJ might be the best in the league at that, and he can flip live betting numbers in a hurry.
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