Eagles Going for Third Straight Victory

The Philadelphia Eagles will play the New York Giants for the second time in three games when they return from their bye week to visit MetLife Stadium as small road favorites on Sunday. The Eagles are coming off an ugly 23-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys as 10-point home favorites in the Week 8 Sunday Night Football game after rallying to defeat the Giants 22-21 as 5-point chalk the previous Thursday in another prime-time matchup.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The point spread has gone up slightly in Philadelphia’s favor to -3.5 while the total has moved even more to 44 in early betting action at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark. The upward movement on the total is interesting considering the Eagles scored just 10 points through the first three quarters in the last meeting. Philadelphia’s offense has been disappointing for most of the year but surprisingly good enough to lead a dismal division. Bettors must think the team worked out some of those offensive struggles during the bye.

Philadelphia News & Notes

The Eagles are clearly the best team in the NFC East right now, but they are almost no threat to do anything in the playoffs at this point. They play three of their next four games on the road and five of six against potential playoff teams, although New York is clearly not one of those.

In other words, Philadelphia must start playing better here in order to stay competitive down the stretch against some much more worthy opponents. The Eagles needed a touchdown in the final minute to beat the Giants last time after trailing 21-10 early in the fourth quarter. They also needed to rally from a 9-7 halftime deficit vs the Cowboys, who were held scoreless after the intermission and failed to cover.

New York News & Notes

This New York team has been incredibly frustrating to watch this season from a win-loss perspective, mostly because bettors can see some talent that often hangs tough before eventually losing. The exception came last week, though, as the Giants held on for a 23-20 win over Washington after leading by double digits for much of the game.

They covered the spread for the fifth time in six games, according to the Odds Shark NFL Database, and saw their fifth straight decided by three points or less. The difference was that the team found a way to win for only the second time this season, but against the same opponent. And New York cannot play Washington every week.

Betting Pick: Eagles -3

If you can still grab Philadelphia -3, do it as soon as possible. The Eagles have a clean slate after their bye and know their schedule gets increasingly difficult following this game. They learned their lesson in the last meeting with the Giants and will not get behind big early this time around. Look for Philly to get off to a much stronger start here and cruise.