Philadelphia Eagles at San Francisco 49ers Betting Preview
The Philadelphia Eagles will hop on a flight to the West Coast for a showdown with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football. Kickoff is scheduled at 8:20 P.M. Eastern, with the 49ers entering as seven-and-a-half point favorites. The over/under is set at 45 points.
Are the Eagles Grounded for Good?
The Philadelphia Eagles take to the road in Week 4 to wrap up a terrible first quarter to their season. The 0-2-1 Eagles have inexplicably lost to the Washington Football Team and tied the lowly Cincinnati Bengals so far this year, sandwiched around a thorough thrashing at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams.
It has gotten to the point where the media and Philly fans are beginning to question the franchise’s direction with Carson Wentz under center. The fifth-year quarterback has a completion percentage of under 60%, a rating of 35.5, and has thrown twice as many interceptions (six) as touchdowns (three) on the season thus far.
The road doesn’t get any easier, as the Eagles face the second-ranked defense in points allowed on Sunday evening. San Francisco has seemingly rallied behind their crazy amount of injuries.
Philadelphia is 0-3 against the spread so far this season while going over the total in two of their three games so far. In their recent road contests, the Eagles total has gone over in each of their last five games. They are 1-4 against the spread in their last five games overall, but they are 7-1 against the spread in their previous eight games against the 49ers. Philadelphia has lost two of the past three games in this series but did win the most recent matchup, which took place in 2017. The Eagles are 7-3 in their last ten games against the Niners.
Smoke and Mirrors?
While the Niners are 2-1 on the season, those wins came against the Jets and the Giants, two of the worst teams in the NFL. Though the Eagles are 0-2-1 and not playing their best football, the competition level is about to increase exponentially.
The main problem with the Niners is their injuries. After losing Nick Bosa in Week 1, the line to the infirmary has only gotten longer. Jimmy Garoppolo, Raheem Mostert, Jordan Reed, and Dee Ford will all be out on Sunday night.
Nick Mullens will make another start under center after having a very nice game last week against the New York Giants. Mullens threw for 343 yards and a touchdown while showing a nice rapport with rookie wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who snagged five catches for 70 yards while also rushing three times for 30 yards and a score.
Jerrick McKinnon and Jeff Wilson were able to pick up the slack of Mostert being unavailable, catching six balls out of the backfield for nearly 100 yards.
While many of the Niners’ weapons are out this week, they do welcome back tight end George Kittle, who was a full participant in practice all week after suffering a knee injury a couple of weeks ago.
The Niners are 5-2 against the spread in their last seven games overall and 2-1 ATS so far this season, with two of their three games hitting the over.
My Pick
This is a very shaky game to pick. On the one hand, you have a young quarterback on an injury-riddled team that hasn’t played great competition. On the other hand, is a team playing what is most likely its worst football of the season.
The Eagles are not without their injuries either, as DeSean Jackson and Dallas Goedert won’t be playing in this game either. I like the talent on the Eagles side of the football enough to say that they cover. The O/U has shrunk 2.5 points this week, but I don’t think that’s enough. This has all the makings of a 24-10 game.
Give me the 49ers (-7.5) to win, and take the under (45).
