The season opener between the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions on Sunday options two long-shot groups who're in style with bettors to win Tremendous Bowl LVII.
The Lions, coming off a 3-13-1 season, had been a classy Tremendous Bowl decide, thanks, partly, to showing on HBO's "Arduous Knocks."
After buying and selling for receiver A.J. Brown, bettors backed the Eagles to win Tremendous Bowl LVII after Philadelphia was 9-8 through the 2021 common season
Here is every part you want from a betting perspective on the Eagles-Lions sport, from the purpose unfold, moneyline, whole over/below and knowledgeable decide (odds by way of FOX Guess):
Why Dan Campbell's Lions are a sleeper staff this season | THE HERD
Episode 1 of HBO's Arduous Knocks premiered this week, that includes the Detroit Lions and highlighted Dan Campbell and Jamal Williams' emotional management qualities. The Lions are coming off a hopeful season regardless of ending 3-13-1, with many shut video games, however will they be extra profitable down the wire? Colin Cowherd predicts how the Lions will end, together with why it's time to stay awake on them.
RELATED: NFL Week 1 strains, odds
Philadelphia Eagles @ Detroit Lions (1 p.m. ET Sunday, FOX)
Level unfold: Eagles -5 (Eagles favored to win by greater than 5 factors, in any other case Lions cowl)
Moneyline: Eagles -278 favorites to win (guess $10 to win $13.60 whole); Lions +205 underdogs to win (guess $10 to win $30.50 whole)
Whole scoring over/below: 48 factors scored by each groups mixed
Philadelphia Eagles
PHI
Detroit Lions
DET
The Eagles are 9-2 of their previous 11 season openers.
Philadelphia was 9-8 in opposition to the unfold (ATS) final season.
The Eagles hit the over within the over/below (O/U) 10 instances in 17 video games final season.
Detroit's Amon-Ra St. Brown has eight or extra catches in every of his previous six video games. If he does so in opposition to the Eagles, he'll develop into the fifth participant in NFL historical past with eight or extra catches in seven consecutive video games.
By beating the Eagles, the Lions can be Lions can be above .500 for the primary time since Week 4 of the 2019 season
The Lions received their final threes residence video games in 2021 after shedding the primary 5 at Ford Discipline. Detroit has not received 4 straight residence video games since 2016.
Philadelphia beat Detroit 44-6 on Oct. 31 to take a 17-16-2 lead within the all-time series.
Decide by way of FOX Sports activities Betting Analyst Warren Sharp:
Final season the Eagles performed the Lions. The entire sat at 48 factors for nearly all the week, attracted minimal sharp motion, and closed at 48 factors.
Heading into the sport, Philly pivoted massively to the run. Towards the Raiders the prior week (Week 7), the Eagles ran the ball on 59% of their early-down performs within the first half. A 17-7 halftime deficit compelled the Eagles to go extra within the second half, but it surely was clear this staff was seeking to run early and infrequently, a substantial change in method from the primary six video games of the season. Regardless of being a pass-first staff, the Eagles had been an enormous below staff, going below the whole in 4 of their first seven video games.
The Lions had been struggling headed into the sport. They had been 0-7 and had not even hit 20 factors of their earlier six video games, recording level totals of 11, 14, 17, 17, 17 and 19 factors. Consequently, the Lions had been an enormous below staff as nicely. They went below the whole in 5 straight video games heading into their sport with the Eagles.
So, the Week 8 matchup featured a winless staff that couldn’t rating 20 factors to avoid wasting their life and off of six straight unders, in opposition to a staff who simply embraced the working sport and who likewise went below at a stable fee coming into the sport.
And the whole was 48 factors. And guess what? The sport went over.
These groups are very completely different from that Week 8 assembly final yr.
Late within the 2021 season, the Lions modified play callers and have become extra aggressive offensively. They usually really went over the whole in 4 of their ultimate six video games, scoring 29 or extra factors in 4 of these contests.
The Eagles embraced the run — in opposition to very dangerous opponents — and had a ton of success scoring factors. They went over the whole in eight of their ultimate 11 video games of the yr. However do we actually suppose the 2022 Eagles will decide up the place they left off with one of many highest run charges within the NFL?
Their quarterback was enjoying his first season as a starter within the NFL in a brand-new offense. The 2021 Eagles' No. 1 WR was a rookie in DeVonta Smith, their No. 2 in receptions was TE Dallas Goedert. It made sense to run extra because of the gentle containers they had been going through, due to the extraordinarily excessive go fee they began the season with.
However this offseason, the Eagles made the aggressive transfer to commerce for of the NFL’s greatest WRs in A.J. Brown. Additionally they added WR Zach Pascal.
QB Jalen Hurts is now in his second yr as a starter. Extra importantly, Hurts is in the identical offense with the identical play caller in consecutive seasons for the primary time since highschool.
And this staff has the most effective offensive strains within the NFL.
The Lions' protection is prone to be extremely problematic once more in 2022, identical to in 2021 when the Eagles put up 44 factors in opposition to them. The Eagles' offense has proven the need to function with tempo at instances this preseason, and Detroit was the NFL’s thirty second protection on early downs final yr.
The energy of the Eagles' protection is their defensive position, which hasn’t modified. However the Lions' offensive line is their staff’s greatest unit, as they rank top-five in pure expertise. It may not neutralize the Eagles, however it'll give Jared Goff a greater probability to seek out success.
With each of those offensive strains being among the many greatest within the NFL, what seals the play on the over is the aggressiveness of each coaches. They may go for it on fourth down. They may not often punt. They may onside kick early. They may by no means wave a white flag. No matter whether or not the Eagles are up late, the Lions will hold approaching offense and received’t cease. And at last, we additionally know this sport is in a dome, and thus rain received’t trigger issues for Goff’s fingers.
This whole sits at 48.5 factors, and I'd advocate ready for it to drop after which grabbing a 48 later within the week and going over.
Skeptics might fear in regards to the potential for lots of working on this sport from Philadelphia, however it could be inconceivable for the Eagles to be extra run heavy than they had been on this sport final yr. They ran it 46 instances, handed it solely 16 instances and nonetheless scored 44 factors. As I discussed, I feel the 2022 Eagles shall be extra balanced than within the final assembly.
Moreover, I'd be shocked if the Lions got here out and put up simply six factors offensively like they did final yr, contemplating their extra aggressive offensive technique. The Eagles' protection tends to drive shorter passes beneath – they compelled opposing offenses to common 6.4 air yards/att, thirty second within the NFL. However that’s precisely what this Lions passing assault led by Goff emphasizes. His goal depth was 6.4 air yards/att, which was the bottom of any NFL quarterback final season. And these targets had been extraordinarily correct as Goff averaged the eighth-best on-target fee of passes thrown inside 10 yards out of 40 qualifying quarterbacks.
Thus, we’re left with an odd symbiosis that might profit Detroit, the place the Eagles' protection needs the Lions to throw beneath and performs to remove deep passes. The Lions will gladly oblige as a result of it’s their most popular offense, they usually don’t care to throw deep typically.
PICK: Eagles-Lions over 48 whole factors (at time of decide) scored mixed at FOX Guess
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