Teams for Philadelphia and Minnesota are looking to put an amazing show.
It's gonna be someone’s big time, either the Eagles or Minnesota Vikings. Both teams are equally good after first week wins.
The PA sportsbooks name Eagles as a favorite of Monday morning for their 8:30 p.m. meeting at Lincoln Financial Field, an edge about equal to the amount of points you get just for being the home team.
Both Eagles and Vikings have promising quarterbacks, who are still earning their respect across the NFL. They both have running games that can be one of the best in the league. and both have dynamic receivers, which, of course, are among the best in the league.
But the Vikings defense was a lot cooler against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in a 23-7 win last week than did the Eagles defense in the 35 points loss to Detroit Lions. That could make a difference if Philadelphia fails by night’s end to find itself 2-0 for the first time since 2016.
Hurts in hope to match first game of the season
The Eagles really get a bunch of respect over the last days from the oddsmakers, with the line generally shifting from 2 points to 2.5. Few of the sportsbooks are applying extra vig to take the Eagles. So the perfect way for a Philadelphia backer is to get standard -110 from FanDuel, BetMGM, or Kambi-supplied sites like BetRivers, Unibet, betPARX, and Barstool.
At the same time Caesars Sportsbook, was offering the best moneyline price on Philadelphia at -135, with FanDuel close behind at -136.
While relatively high the over/under, (both teams scored 61 points combined last week), ticked down a notch over the last few days to 50 or 50.5. Those betting the over would want to consider the 50 offered by DraftKings and Betway with no extra meat.
And because it’s a Monday night game getting huge national attention, bettors will want to take a look for special offers advertised by the online sportsbooks. For example, FOX Bet offering a boost to +500 (it says +400 would be normal) for both Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen to rush for touchdowns.
Hurts was pretty dynamic in the opening game of the season, getting the 243 yards “done” while running 17 times for 90 yards and a TD. 10 of his eighteen pass completions (for 155 yards) were to fresh Eagle A.J. Brown, seeming to quickly justify the draft picks and new contract expended on him.
Huge question would it be entertaining for TV viewers, how marvelous they will be at the Monday night show game compared to Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson under first-year Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell’s newly wide-open offense. Nine of Cousins’ 23 completions vs. the Packers ended up in Jefferson’s hands, for 184 yards and two touchdowns. (That would be the same Justin Jefferson whom the Eagles passed on in the 2020 draft to take the disappointing Jalen Reagor, himself now a Vike.)
At the same time , Miles Sanders did 96 yards and a TD for the Eagles last week while Dalvin Cook did 90 yards on 20 carries for Minnesota.
There's a huge chance for a lot of action that won’t have any late-night TV viewers dispassionately falling asleep in their chairs. And with the New York Giants already a surprising 2-0 win in the NFC East. It would be nice if Philadelphia could match them to justify the improvement in futures odds they received from line shifts a week ago.
