November 25, 2023
After a comeback and another statement win over the Chiefs, the Eagles are on to the next round of their gauntlet in the schedule with the Buffalo Bills coming to town.
The Bills have struggled this season, but are still in the mix and coming off a 32-6 drubbing of the Jets that shows they still have plenty of firepower that the Eagles will need to be on the lookout for.
Will they keep Josh Allen's unit under control?
Here are our thoughts and predictions:
TV: CBS (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson)
RADIO: 94.1 WIP (Merrill Reese, Mike Quick)
| Sportsbook | Spread | Money Line | Total O/U |
| DraftKings | PHI -3 | BUF +136 PHI -162 | 48.5 |
| FanDuel | PHI -3 | BUF +140 PHI -166 | 48.5 |
| BetMGM | PHI -3 | BUF +145 PHI -175 | 48.5 |
| UniBet | PHI -3 | BUF +143 PHI -175 | 48.5 |
| PointsBet | PHI -3 | BUF +140 PHI -170 | 48.5 |
The Bills will be without their best cornerback (All-Pro Tre'Davious White), their best linebacker (All-Pro Matt Milano), and a starting DT (DaQuon Jones). Meanwhile, their CB2 (Taron Johnson), their backup CB to White (Dane Jackson), and two of their top three safeties (Micah Hyde and Taylor Rapp) are all banged up, and it's a good bet that some combination of them won't play. That's a lot to overcome against an explosive Eagles offense whose wide receivers consistently make plays down the field.
There are other additional matchups I like in the Eagles' favor:
The matchup in the Bills favor that on paper should give the Eagles some anxiety is Stefon Diggs working out of the slot. Then again, the Eagles have faced star pass catchers all season long, notably Justin Jefferson, Mike Evans, Terry McLaurin, Cooper Kupp, Garrett Wilson, CeeDee Lamb, and Travis Kelce. Ho hum.
After they found ways to beat the Cowboys and Chiefs in recent weeks, I think the Eagles will do the same against the inconsistent Bills. Stefon Diggs over the middle is the most intimidating threat, but I think the pass rush will be effective in making Josh Allen feel uncomfortable and the offense will be able to answer Buffalo. A win puts them in poll position next week when the 49ers are in town.
This line is wildly disrespectful to the Eagles. It’s not 2021. The Eagles haven’t been able to force takeaways at the rate that they did in 2022, but facing the ever-erratic Josh Allen, who’s tied for the league lead in interceptions thrown, could lead to some turnover luck going back in their direction.
This Bills team is combustible. They remind me a lot of the 2018 and 2019 Eagles. They’re still riding on the laurels of past success and have an uber-talented quarterback who isn’t truly living up to his reputation on a consistent basis. Sean Desai’s defense has been all over the place in 2023, but in the two biggest matchups of the season against Miami and Kansas City, he delivered excellent game plans. Something similar could be cooking with Buffalo.
The Bills are banged up, and while I still consider them a solid team, at this rate, the Eagles are just better.
But since it's been so consistent, I'm going to keep sticking with the theme of the season so far: This will come down to the wire (again), and it will be the worst game ever (again).
But the Eagles will win (again.)
This is a tough game for Philadelphia for a couple of reasons, primarily because of the schedule. It’s easy to get caught up with your own team, only watching the teams they play week to week. But the NFL is full of letdowns, be it monster upsets or just a bad part of the schedule.
The Eagles have this game between two circle games. They just avenged a Super Bowl loss In KC, then have the 49ers coming next week. Philadelphia was in a war of words with San Fran players for months after that NFC Championship game. It’s hard to think this isn’t a letdown with so much riding on the games before and after Buffalo.
The Bills have stunk recently, but they aren’t awful. Meanwhile, the Eagles are busy praising coaches despite multiple game-deciding drops in KC.
I’ll take the Bills, 24-22.
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