Philadelphia Eagles (5-4 SU, 5-4 ATS) vs. Seattle Seahawks (6-2-1 SU, 5-4 ATS)
NFL Week 11
Date/Time: Sunday, November 20th 2016 at 4:25PM EST
Where: CenturyLink Field Seattle, WA
TV: CBS
by Bob, Expert Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: PHI +6 / SEA -6
Over/Under Total: 44.5
This Sunday at 4:25pm in Seattle, Washington, we have an NFC East versus NFC West match up that could potentially be a playoff preview. The 5-4 Philadelphia Eagles will come into town to take on the 6-2-1 Seattle Seahawks. As of now, the Seahawks are in the playoff picture sitting in 1st place in the NFC West division while the Eagles who are not technically in the playoffs, can control their own destiny to get one of the NFC Wild Card spots. This both of these teams are coming off good wins in week ten and a win this week could put momentum well in their favor.
The Seahawks are a six point favorite at home over the Eagles and the total points are set at 44.5 combined between the two. As of Tuesday night, the action was heavily in favor of the Seahawks getting the cover at home. 64% of the action had them covering the near touchdown over Philly. 56% of the bettors like this game to actually stay under the 44.5 as if they expect a defensive battle.
The Eagles started out the season at 3-0 and Carson Wentz looked like he was going to simply run away with the Rookie of the Year Award. Since that 3-0 start, things took a bit of a turn not just for Wentz but for the Eagles. Before taking care of the Atlanta Falcons at home this weekend, the Eagles had gone on a 1-4 skid and were sitting just at .500. They are now 5-4 and are just a game or so out of the NFC Wild Card hunt. A win in Seattle would be a huge boost for this team moving forward.
Through nine games in 2016, the Eagles defense has been the one consistent piece of this team. Allowing just 17.8 points per game, they rank 3rd amongst all NFL teams. The defense was key in the win over Atlanta last week as well. The Falcons have the NFLs top scoring offense, and the Eagles held them to just 15 points in the win. To get this win over Seattle the defense must bring that same effort, however, the offense needs to do their part as well. Not saying the offense has not played well for Philadelphia, because they have not been awful, but the passing game needs to show some more life to help out the top ten run game they boast. This week, the key is to play hard nosed, grind it out football. We all know how the Seahawks can play defense, but it is starting to look more and more like the offense for the Seahawks is finding its groove too. The Eagles need a complete team effort to get a win and cover in such an environment.
The Seahawks have a good record and sits a top the NFC West division but they did not look very impressive early on this season, especially on the offensive side of the football. The last couple of weeks though, Seattle has been able to put it all together and get things going both offensive and defensively. Ask the Patriots. Russell Wilson looked to be back to his true form this past week against the New England Patriots. Wilson threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns as the Seahawks pulled the upset over the Pats in a rematch of the Super Bowl just two years ago. If Seattle is going to be playing like this down the stretch, we could potentially be seeing them in another Super Bowl seeing as how the NFC right now is wide open and no team looks completely unbeatable. The key for this game is to make Carson Wentz make mistakes. CenturyLink Field can get loud and the rookie has yet to face an environment like this before. The Seahawks will be bringing different looks at the kid hoping to make him make mistakes. On offense, the Seahawks need to just keep the momentum going. Philly has a great front seven and this was major reason the Falcons could never really get anything going on offense last week. Seattle needs to keep the defense off balanced with its playcalling and Russell Wilson needs to just keep doing what he has been doing.
In the NFL I do not normally like taking the teams that are a touchdown favorite or close to it, especially when both teams are having rather decent seasons, but something tells me that Philly is doomed on Sunday. I think the Seahawks defense will make enough plays and cause Wentz to make enough mistakes for Seattle to put this game away early in the 4th quarter. Seattle will come away with something like a 23-13 type win and get the cover and move to 7-2-1 on the 2016 season.
Bobs Pick to Cover the Point Spread: Take the Seattle Seahawks -6 points
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