For the first time in their history the Philadelphia Eagles enter a season as defending Super Bowl champions. They won the title last season with a backup quarterback and return most of the key pieces that led them to a win over New England in February. The biggest piece is Carson Wentz, who wasn’t around for Philly’s playoff run after tearing up his knee toward the end of last regular season. Doug Pederson said the team will be cautious with their QB during the preseason and it’s unlikely he plays against the Pittsburgh Steelers when the teams go at it in Week 1 of the exhibition slate.
This duel in Week 1 of the preseason will go down Thursday, August 9, 2018, at 7 p.m. ET from Lincoln Financial Field.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Pittsburgh Steelers +3
Philadelphia Eagles -3
Over/Under 35
Odds Analysis
The first preseason games are a crapshoot anyway and the home team typically gets a standard field goal on the spread. Not surprisingly that’s what we have for this one with the Eagles opening as a 3-point favorite with a relatively average total of 35. Both teams are pretty much set on starters heading into camp and the battles are for backup roles and special teams performers. The line is vanilla and the game will probably be as well.
Quarterback Rotation
There is a strong likelihood we won’t see Ben Roethlisberger or Carson Wentz take the field in this one. Mike Tomlin held out his big offensive weapons until Week 3 last preseason and that’s probably the case in 2018. Instead we’ll get a heavy dose of Landry Jones for the black and gold with Mason Rudolph and Joshua Dobbs working after that.
It’s time for the Steelers to get a good look at their quarterbacks taken in the last two drafts to see if any has the chops to be Big Ben’s backup down the road. They won’t get snaps during the regular season unless something devastating happens to Roethlisberger, so the competition will take place in the exhibition games. Dobbs, the team’s fourth round pick in 2017, threw for 406 yards last preseason. A third-round pick this year, Rudolph is expected to get some snaps.
The Eagles are not taking chances with Wentz in a meaningless game and we won’t see him on Thursday. Wentz is still recovering from major knee surgery after having his knee shredded back in Week 14 of last season. The biggest concern is getting him ready for the regular season and making sure he’s ready to go once the bell rings.
That takes on less meaning after watching Nick Foles lead the club to a victory over the Pats in the Super Bowl. But the Eagles don’t want to risk anything happening to Foles so expect a lot of Nate Sudfeld and Joe Callahan when the team takes the field on Thursday.
Coaching History
The Steelers were 3-1 last preseason, posting their first winning record during exhibition games in five years. Mike Tomlin has said he doesn’t put a lot of stock in the games and that’s evident by his 25-21 lifetime record, and we aren’t going to see much of his starters. Pittsburgh played below the closing total in all four games in 2017.
The Eagles are 4-0 SU and ATS at home during the preseason under Pederson and 6-2 overall. It will be interesting to see how the coach approaches the preseason now that his team is Super Bowl champs. The last two years they were coming off 7-9 seasons and looking for the right personnel.
Free ATS Pick
This is a actually a big game for the Steelers, who need to find Roethlisberger’s future replacement and a running back to carry the load with Le’Veon Bell not much longer for the Steel City. Antonio Brown was also sent home with an injury last week and some pass catchers need to emerge from a group that includes James Washington and Justin Hunter.
Backup quarterbacks will get plenty of reps in this one and I’m still not convinced Landry Jones is the guy to take over in Pittsburgh. Look for a battle between Dobbs and Rudolph with more than the No. 3 spot on the roster at stake. Sudfeld will get a majority of snaps for the Eagles and he’s no stranger to the program. Also, the Eagles have been deadly at home and they’ll feed off their rabid fans, even though it is just a preseason game.
NFL Odds: Eagles 23, Steelers 16
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