December 02, 2017
The Eagles head into their Week 13 game against the Seahawks as the biggest road favorite to play in Seattle since the Baltimore Ravens were 6.5-point favorites back in November of 2011.
But not everyone believes that the Birds will improve to 11-1 on Sunday night.
Despite the near-touchdown spread, this week has seen the most people picking against the Eagles since they went into Carolina in Week 6 as a three-point underdog, a game they won by five points. By comparison, the Birds were also six-point favorites the last time they played on the road (Week 11 at Dallas), and almost nobody outside of Cowboys fans was picking against them.
The smart money would be on a close finish – but no one's ever accused us of being smart – but after five-straight wins by 20 or more points, it's getting more and more difficult to pick against the Eagles.
With a win, the Birds will win 10 straight in a single season for the first time in franchise history. The question is, will they?
TV: NBC | RADIO: 94.1 WIP
SPREAD: Eagles (-6) | TOTAL: 47 (via Bovada)
Earlier on Friday, we took a look at what other local and national writers are predicting for this one. You can check that out, here.
This is not the same Seahawks team you remember over the last five years. The Seahawks can no longer bulldoze defenses with Marshawn Lynch, and they're missing both Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor on the back end defensively. I think this is the next in line of teams that gets exposed by a superior Eagles roster.
Full disclosure: I do not enjoy watching the Eagles try to handle Russell Wilson. He has given them fits when they’ve matched up over the years, always finding a way to evade the hopeful arms of Philadelphia’s pass rushers.
So I don’t take this matchup lightly, and I don’t suspect the Eagles will either. They know how much is at stake over these next couple weeks, even if these aren’t the same Seahawks you’ve grown accustomed to. Without Richard Sherman, I think the Seahawks are vulnerable enough for the Eagles to take down. They lost to the dang Redskins, guys.
These are the games they brought Jay Ajayi in for. Expect Doug Pederson to go to Ajayi and Blount early and often, and for Philadelphia to grind out a tough victory.
I'm not going to spend a lot of time with analysis here, because the more I think about this game, the closer I come to second-guessing my prediction. It's just one of those games. The last time I felt like this was Week 6 against the Panthers. I picked a 27-23 Eagles' win then too, and they won 28-23.
The Eagles are the better team – and despite being the favorite, they'll likely prove any remaining doubters wrong with a road win in Seattle. Also, the Redskins won in Seattle just a few weeks ago and, I mean, did you watch that game on Thursday night?
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