Eagles Open Defense of Super Bowl Championship
The Atlanta Falcons and the Philadelphia Eagles play their season openers Thursday Night. Lincoln Financial Field hosts the Week 1 contest. Kickoff is set for 8:20 pm EST on NBC’s Thursday Night Football.
Oddsmakers opened the Eagles as -5.5-point favorites versus the Falcons, while the game’s total opened at 46.5. The game is now down to a PK and the total is down to 45.
The Eagles have had a 6-month party since winning the city’s first NFL Championship. They are ready to defend that title.
The Eagles began their postseason journey last season with a 15-10 triumph over the Falcons in the NFC divisional round. They embraced the “underdog” role despite being the top seed. They played it to the hilt. Becoming David who kept knocking off Golaith’s.
Foles is Starting for the Eagles
Nick Foles has been named the starter for Thursday’s matchup. He famously relieved the injured Carson Wentz late in the season. He steered Philadelphia to a 41-33 win over New England in the NFL’s signature game. Foles also garnered Super Bowl MVP honors in the process.
He has a wide receiver corps in flux due to injuries to start the season. The Eagles scored a league third-best 28.6 points per game in 2017. That may not be possible early this season.
They may need to rely on Jay Ajayi, Corey Clement and a ground game that ranked third with an average of 132.2 yards per contest. The Eagles boasted the NFL’s stingiest pass defense in 2017.
Philadelphia became the 11th team in NFL history with three players score at least eight touchdown receptions last season. Zach Ertz led all NFC tight ends with 74 receptions and 824 yards to go along with a career-high eight scores. Alshon Jeffery had nine TDs. Wideout Nelson Agholor had eight TDs.
Agholor is ruled out for Thursday’s contest as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery.
Defensive end Brandon Graham had a career-high 9.5 sacks in 2017. He had a huge sack on Brady in the
Super Bowl, as well as one in the last encounter against Atlanta.
Linebacker Nigel Bradham also registered a sack in the last meeting versus the Falcons. He had a team-leading 88 tackles in the regular season.
Falcons Need to Have a Balanced Attack
Atlanta’s
Matt Ryan is a Philly area native. He followed his 2016 NFL MVP season by eclipsing 4,000 yards for his franchise-record seventh consecutive campaign. He signed a five-year, $150 million contract on May 3.
Five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Julio Jones led the NFC with 1,444 receiving yards in 2017. He has four straight 100-plus receiving yard performances versus the Eagles.
Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman fueled Atlanta’s eighth-ranked offense last season. They kept defenses off balance by combining for over 2,100 yards from scrimmage and 16 touchdowns.
Atlanta LB
Deion Jones joined Carolina’s Luke Kuechly and Jacksonville’s Telvin Smith as the lone players to record 100-plus tackles and three-plus interceptions last season.
PREDICTION: Falcons 24, Eagles 14
| Name |
Offense |
Defense |
Differential |
| ATL |
16.56 |
16.87 |
-0.31 |
| PHI |
13.03 |
17.77 |
-4.74 |
| Name |
Offense |
Defense |
Differential |
| ATL |
11.35 |
9.57 |
1.78 |
| PHI |
11.21 |
10.42 |
0.79 |
| Name |
Offense |
Defense |
Differential |
| ATL |
4.21 |
4.17 |
0.04 |
| PHI |
4.42 |
3.87 |
0.55 |
| Name |
Record |
Home |
Away |
ATS |
ATS Home |
ATS Away |
Offense |
Defense |
Diff |
| Overall |
11-7 |
5-3 |
6-4 |
8-10 |
5-3 |
3-7 |
21.61 |
19.06 |
2.55 |
| vs Conf |
10-4 |
5-1 |
5-3 |
8-6 |
5-1 |
3-5 |
23.07 |
18.36 |
4.71 |
| vs Div |
4-2 |
3-0 |
1-2 |
3-3 |
3-0 |
0-3 |
21.67 |
18.50 |
3.17 |
| Last 3 |
2-1 |
1-0 |
1-1 |
2-1 |
1-0 |
1-1 |
19.33 |
12.67 |
6.66 |
| Name |
Record |
Home |
Away |
ATS |
ATS Home |
ATS Away |
Offense |
Defense |
Diff |
| Overall |
16-3 |
9-1 |
7-2 |
13-6 |
7-3 |
6-3 |
29.00 |
18.16 |
10.84 |
| vs Conf |
12-2 |
7-1 |
5-1 |
10-4 |
6-2 |
4-2 |
28.14 |
16.29 |
11.85 |
| vs Div |
6-1 |
2-1 |
4-0 |
4-3 |
1-2 |
3-1 |
29.00 |
20.29 |
8.71 |
| Last 3 |
3-0 |
2-0 |
1-0 |
3-0 |
2-0 |
1-0 |
31.33 |
16.67 |
14.66 |
| Title |
Stat |
Rank |
Stat |
Rank |
| Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense |
21.61 |
15 |
18.16 |
4 |
| Awy Team Road Passing vs Home Team Home Passing Defense |
241.20 |
9 |
214.70 |
14 |
| Away Team Road Rushing vs Home Team Home Rushing Defense |
109.50 |
11 |
71.20 |
2 |
| Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense |
29.00 |
1 |
19.06 |
6 |
| Hme Team Home Passing vs Away Team Road Passing Defense |
223.10 |
19 |
226.10 |
14 |
| Home Team Home Rushing vs Away Team Road Rushing Defense |
128.10 |
9 |
111.90 |
14 |
| Name |
Record |
ATS |
OU |
Score |
Rush |
YPR |
PA |
CP |
PY |
TY |
TO +/- |
| Atlanta |
4-6 |
4-5-1 |
3-7 |
18.50 |
108.50 |
3.97 |
34.80 |
59.20 |
222.40 |
330.90 |
1.70 |
| Philadelphia |
6-4 |
5-4-1 |
3-7 |
23.70 |
113.40 |
4.25 |
36.10 |
65.37 |
272.40 |
385.80 |
1.40 |
| Date |
Away |
Home |
Score |
Line |
Total |
OU Result |
ARY |
APY |
ATY |
ATT |
HRY |
HPY |
HTY |
HTT |
Away Team Attempts |
Home Team Attempts |
Away Team Completions |
Home Team Completions |
| Jan 13, 2018 |
ATL |
PHI |
10-15 |
86 |
195 |
281 |
0 |
96 |
238 |
334 |
2 |
| Nov 13, 2016 |
ATL |
PHI |
15-24 |
48 |
255 |
303 |
1 |
207 |
221 |
428 |
1 |
| Sep 14, 2015 |
PHI |
ATL |
24-26 |
63 |
336 |
399 |
2 |
105 |
290 |
395 |
2 |
| Oct 28, 2012 |
ATL |
PHI |
30-17 |
146 |
246 |
392 |
0 |
92 |
178 |
270 |
0 |
| Sep 18, 2011 |
PHI |
ATL |
31-35 |
133 |
314 |
447 |
3 |
138 |
180 |
318 |
2 |
| Oct 17, 2010 |
ATL |
PHI |
17-31 |
65 |
228 |
293 |
2 |
154 |
320 |
474 |
1 |
| Dec 6, 2009 |
PHI |
ATL |
34-7 |
103 |
277 |
380 |
0 |
61 |
234 |
295 |
3 |
| Oct 26, 2008 |
ATL |
PHI |
14-27 |
77 |
258 |
335 |
3 |
192 |
240 |
432 |
1 |
| Dec 31, 2006 |
ATL |
PHI |
17-24 |
159 |
219 |
378 |
1 |
43 |
350 |
393 |
1 |
| Sep 12, 2005 |
PHI |
ATL |
10-14 |
51 |
250 |
301 |
3 |
200 |
119 |
319 |
3 |
| Atlanta is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games |
| The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Atlanta’s last 5 games |
| Atlanta is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games on the road |
| Atlanta is 13-6 SU in its last 19 games on the road |
| The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Atlanta’s last 6 games on the road |
| Atlanta is 4-12-1 ATS in its last 17 games when playing Philadelphia |
| Atlanta is 4-10 SU in its last 14 games when playing Philadelphia |
| The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Atlanta’s last 13 games when playing Philadelphia |
| Atlanta is 1-7-1 ATS in its last 9 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia |
| Atlanta is 1-8 SU in its last 9 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia |
| The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Atlanta’s last 8 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia |
| Philadelphia is 12-4 ATS in its last 16 games |
| Phil is 15-2 SU in its last 17 games |
| Philadelphia is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games at home |
| Phil is 11-1 SU in its last 12 games at home |
| The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Philadelphia’s last 5 games at home |
| Philadelphia is 12-4-1 ATS in its last 17 games when playing Atlanta |
| Philadelphia is 10-4 SU in its last 14 games when playing Atlanta |
| The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Philadelphia’s last 13 games when playing Atlanta |
| Philadelphia is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Atlanta |
| Philadelphia is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Atlanta |
| The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Philadelphia’s last 8 games when playing at home against Atlanta |
| Date |
Opponent |
score |
Result |
line |
ATS Result |
offensive rush yards |
offensive passing yards |
offensive total yards |
defensive rush yards |
defensive passing yards |
defensive total yards |
turnovers |
Location |
| Jan 13, 2018 |
PHI |
10-15 |
L |
-2.5/40.5 |
L/U |
86 |
195 |
281 |
96 |
238 |
334 |
-2 |
A |
| Jan 6, 2018 |
LAR |
26-13 |
W |
6/48 |
W/U |
124 |
198 |
322 |
115 |
246 |
361 |
-2 |
A |
| Dec 31, 2017 |
CAR |
22-10 |
W |
-5/44.5 |
W/U |
60 |
311 |
371 |
87 |
161 |
248 |
-3 |
H |
| Dec 24, 2017 |
NO |
13-23 |
L |
5/51 |
L/U |
67 |
264 |
331 |
86 |
229 |
315 |
1 |
A |
| Dec 18, 2017 |
TB |
24-21 |
W |
-7/49.5 |
L/U |
201 |
209 |
410 |
84 |
289 |
373 |
-1 |
A |
| Date |
Opponent |
score |
Result |
line |
ATS Result |
offensive rush yards |
offensive passing yards |
offensive total yards |
defensive rush yards |
defensive passing yards |
defensive total yards |
turnovers |
Location |
| Feb 4, 2018 |
NE |
41-33 |
W |
4.5/49 |
W/O |
164 |
374 |
538 |
113 |
500 |
613 |
0 |
A |
| Jan 21, 2018 |
MIN |
38-7 |
W |
3/39 |
W/O |
110 |
346 |
456 |
70 |
263 |
333 |
-3 |
H |
| Jan 13, 2018 |
ATL |
15-10 |
W |
2.5/40.5 |
W/U |
96 |
238 |
334 |
86 |
195 |
281 |
2 |
H |
| Dec 31, 2017 |
DAL |
0-6 |
L |
3.5/40 |
L/U |
70 |
149 |
219 |
129 |
172 |
301 |
1 |
H |
| Dec 25, 2017 |
OAK |
19-10 |
W |
-10/46 |
L/U |
78 |
138 |
216 |
137 |
137 |
274 |
-3 |
H |
Next up:
Atlanta home to Carolina Sunday, September 16
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay Sunday, September 16
Get a 100% CASH Bonus up to $500 and a Free 1/2 Point on Two Teams at GTBets!!
Like this:
Like Loading...
