Now that the Eagles have demonstrated their ability to make a rare fourth-quarter comeback, they’re favored Sunday night to become the first NFL team to reach double-digit wins this season by beating the Green Bay Packers.
Of course, these are not the Packers of recent perennial playoff vintage. Last year’s MVP, Aaron Rodgers, has acknowledged he’s playing with a broken right thumb, and while he doesn’t need to say it, everyone knows he’s also playing with a lack of offensive weapons.
So the online sportsbooks have consistently listed the Eagles as 6.5-point favorites on Sunday Night Football — with some sites even demanding that you pay above-average vig to take Philadelphia, though bettors could get the standard -110 Friday morning from Barstool Sportsbook, BetRivers, betPARX, and Unibet.
BetMGM and PointsBet offered the best moneyline return on the Eagles at -300. While most books listed the points total at over/under 46.5, PointsBet, DraftKings, and Betway presented a better option for “over” bettors at 46.
Packers’ scoring has been way down
The Eagles, 9-1, would like to live up to oddsmakers’ expectations — as well as those of optimistic and demanding fans at Lincoln Financial Field — and stay two games ahead of the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East race. Dallas beat the New York Giants 28-20 on Thanksgiving Day.
For the first time since 2010, Philadelphia came back from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit last Sunday to beat the Indianapolis Colts 17-16. Jalen Hurts had to lead two big drives in the final quarter, capped by his own 7-yard TD scamper with 1:20 left.
Hell of a win by the @eagles.
They shut down the run, only allowing 99 yards (45 on first drive).
They overcame bad coaching.
They overcame a 10 point deficit.
They WON on the road.
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) November 20, 2022
In the most recent game for the well-rested Packers, now 4-7, they were outclassed at home by the Tennessee Titans in a 27-17 contest on Thursday, Nov. 17.
Scoring 17 points was something Rodgers once led Green Bay to do frequently in a half, not a game, but this is not the same offense ever since star receiver Davante Adams was traded in the offseason. The Packers have exceeded 17 points just once in the past four games, a 31-28 win over the Cowboys on Nov. 13 that represents pretty much the high point of the season for both the offense and team.
Whether due to age or injury or lack of a supporting cast — or more than likely a combination of all three — Rodgers has thrown for more than 227 yards just once in the past five games and completed more than 64% of his passes just once in that same span.
For Sunday’s game, DraftKings has the over/under on Rodgers’ passing yardage at 232.5, exactly the same as Hurts, with a -115 price to bet either way on either quarterback.
Hurts threw for just 190 yards against Indianapolis, but in their last game, the Pack allowed ho-hum Titans QB Ryan Tannehill a season-high 333 yards. Philadelphia, meanwhile, has held five straight teams to fewer than 200 yards passing while giving up an average of 178 on the season, second lowest in the NFL.
To beat Dallas, Green Bay depended heavily on its running back tandem of Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon, who combined for 203 yards on 37 carries.
A week ago, stopping the run was a big concern for the Eagles, but their stopgap additions of veteran defensive tackles Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh helped prevent the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor from running away with the game last Sunday. The defensive front held the Colts to under 100 yards on the ground, which assisted greatly in heading off what could have been a deflating second straight loss after the Eagles started the season 8-0.
Photo: Robert Scheer/IndyStar/USA TODAY Network