Falcons vs. Eagles Point Spread: NFL Week 1 Odds, Prediction
The Philadelphia Eagles welcome the Atlanta Falcons this week in a playoff rematch.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
We were two plays from seeing a New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons NFC Championship Game last season.
The Saints lost in the most improbable way possible in the Divisional Round at the Minnesota Vikings. The Falcons probably should have won at the Philadelphia Eagles in the same round. Down 15-10, Atlanta had first-and-goal at the Eagles’ 9-yard line with 1:19 left. On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Matt Ryan’s pass to superstar wideout Julio Jones was a bit high and the Eagles escaped. They would rout the Vikings the following week for the NFC title and then upset the New England Patriots for the first Super Bowl win in franchise history.
Since 2004 (with a couple of exceptions), the NFL has had the defending Super Bowl champion open the season at home on a Thursday night against a marquee opponent in the Kickoff Game. The Eagles begin defence of their title against those Falcons this Thursday. No team has repeated as Super Bowl champion since the Patriots in the 2003-04 seasons. The Eagles are currently +900 to win it all again at Sports Interaction, tied for the second-shortest odds with the Green Bay Packers behind New England (+500). Atlanta, which should have beaten the Patriots in the Super Bowl two seasons ago, is +1600.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were the best offensive team in the NFL in 2016 by a wide margin but slipped quite considerably last year under first-year coordinator Steve Sarkisian – he replaced Kyle Shanahan, who took over a head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Ryan was the NFL MVP that year. He was still good in 2017 but not nearly at the level he was in ’16. Ryan has arguably the best skill position talent around him in the NFL in running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, and receivers Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu and rookie Calvin Ridley.
Some bad news for Falcons backers, though: Only one team has won the Super Bowl after finishing the pre-season winless, which Atlanta did. It lost all four games by double digits.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles will not have the services of star quarterback Carson Wentz to open the season. He was on pace to perhaps be the NFL MVP last year when he suffered a major knee injury in Week 14. It’s not clear when Wentz will debut as it usually takes 9-12 months to fully recover from an ACL tear (Wentz also tore the MCL). It’s a good thing the Eagles have one of the best backups in the league in Nick Foles, who was the Super Bowl MVP. If he were to go down, Nate Sudfeld would get the call and he has played just one regular-season game in his career.
Philly also is expected to open without top receiver Alshon Jeffery, who’s is coming off a recent shoulder surgery.
