Thursday Night Football: Atlanta Falcons vs Philadelphia Eagles Free Pick, 9–6–2018

Sports Picks Forum
Sep 6, 2018 · 3 min read

Free NFL Pick by Abe Howland of Sports Picks Forum

Atlanta Falcons vs Philadelphia Eagles

NFL: Thursday, September 6th, 8:20 PM EST
Odds: Eagles -1, 44.5

A Divisional round rematch from last season will kick off the 2018–19 NFL season as the Atlanta Falcons visit the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles won the Divisional round matchup 15–10 and went on to win the Super Bowl in dramatic fashion. Oddsmakers list the Eagles as -1 to -1.5 point home favorites with the Total around 44.5, depending on your book.

Atlanta has one of the best rosters from top to bottom in the NFL. Matt Ryan is surrounded by one of the best receiver / running back duos the NFL has to offer in Julio Jones, Davonta Freeman, and Tevin Coleman. The Falcons must improve in the red zone this season and their struggles were well documented last season, scoring a TD just 49.2 percent of the time (ranking just 23rd in the NFL). On the defensive side of the ball, Atlanta ranked 9th in total defense last season but they should improve that ranking this season. Grady Jarrett, Vic Beasley, and linebacker Deion Jones all look to improve upon their 2017 campaigns.

The Philadelphia Eagles had the shortest offseason of all teams after winning the Super Bowl. Cason Wentz is still not ready to start and in his place will be Super Bowl MVP, Nick Foles. Foles was under center for the Eagles in their 15–10 win vs the Falcons in the Playoffs but he did not look particularly good. The Eagles are dealing with some injuries in addition to Wentz, WR Alshon Jeffrey is out, DE Michael Bennett may face suspension, DT Tim Jernigan is out, LB Nigel Bradham is out, and DE Brandon Graham is questionable. The Eagles are banged up but they still have one of the best rosters in football. This team will rely heavily on their defense to start the season and they should be ranked near the top of the league in team defense.

It’s hard to handicap a season opener, especially when teams are missing key pieces to their offense/defense. Will the Eagles suffer a Super Bowl hangover, similar to the Falcons in 2017–18? Do the Falcons have what it takes to win on the road in Philadelphia? I have not been impressed with the Eagles in the preseason and their offense has looked awful. Granite, they were missing some key components to this unit but they haven’t instilled confidence from a betting standpoint. I do believe that both teams have defensive units that will keep this a low scoring game. I see this as a competitive game that may come down to a field goal but stay Under 44.5 points.

Falcons vs Eagles Free Pick: UNDER 44.5

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