The bye week couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Philadelphia Eagles. Rolling to a 3-0 start and fresh off a beatdown of AFC favorite Pittsburgh, the Eagles certainly would have liked to continue playing. However, the schedule said take a week off and so they did. Now, as they get back to work, the Eagles won’t be sneaking up on anyone and they will be taken seriously the rest of the way. The first obstacle is the Detroit Lions as the teams prepare for a Week 5 matchup.
Kickoff for this regular season Week 5 game is set for Sunday, October 9, 2016, at 1 p.m. ET at Ford Field.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Philadelphia Eagles -3
Detroit Lions +3
Over/Under 46
Odds Analysis
Philadelphia is getting 80 percent of the early action from the betting public and that pushed the line from Eagles -2.5 to its current number. Philly has had success following its bye going 8-2 SU and 6-3-1 ATS in its last 10 following an off week. The over/under has held firm at its opening of 46.
Injury Report
Nigel Bradham – Philadelphia’s starting outside linebacker was arrested during the bye week on a weapons charge. Bradham is also out on bond for an earlier assault case and the league could take disciplinary action under its code of conduct policy. Bradham anchors the NFL’s top ranked scoring defense and if a suspension is handed down, the Eagles will have a big hole on their second level.
Ameer Abdullah – The loss of Abdullah to a foot injury has left the Lions’ run game in a suspect state. It also doesn’t help that Dwayne Washington could be limited with an ankle injury suffered against the Bears. With Theo Riddick getting a bulk of the snaps, the run game managed just 66 yards against a weak Chicago run defense.
Key Stats
It’s hard to imagine a rookie quarterback playing any better than Carson Wentz, who is the biggest reason why the Eagles won their first three games. Wentz has been really good completing 64.7 percent of his passes and averaging 256 yards per game while leading the Eagles to better than 30 points per game. But perhaps the most impressive stat on Wentz’s line is the zero in the interception column. Wentz has thrown 102 passes to open his career and has yet to be picked. In fact, he hasn’t turned the ball over at all and neither have the Eagles.
Philadelphia is the only team in the league to not have a turnover despite leading the league in time of possession, and their plus-6 differential is second-best in the NFL. The Eagles will eventually turn the ball over, but they have a formula that is leading to wins. The defense has performed as well as any in the league and has permitted just 20 points total with six takeaways.
Free ATS Pick
Are the Eagles as good as their 3-0 record or have they just flown under the radar at the beginning of the season? That’s a question that’ll be answered over the next several weeks. It’s hard not to like what Doug Pederson has done with his troops and the play of Wentz has been inspiring. The Chip Kelly era has been put in the rearview mirror and the Eagles certainly looked like a contender in their 34-3 shellacking of the Steelers before the bye.
But the Eagles won’t be taken lightly from here on out and their third-down conversion percentage and red zone efficiency, which both rank in the lower third of the league could be an area of concern. While the Lions have struggled after a season-opening win, Matthew Stafford has played well and Jim Caldwell sent a message to his club with the benching of Golden Tate last week. I think the Lions got the gist of what their coach is trying to do and Stafford has stepped up as a leader. I’m not convinced the Eagles are as good as they’ve shown and the unbeaten run comes to an end from an inspired Detroit group.
NFL Odds: Lions 27, Eagles 24
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