Things have gone wrong quickly for the Eagles, and they need to sort it out quickly before their season is flushed down the toilet. With two straight double-digit losses, the Eagles now head to Seattle, to take on a desperate Seahawks team, who themselves have lost four straight. A get right spot here for one of these NFC teams.
Below, we will dissect the matchup, previewing how we think things will play out, and give out our NFL Best Bet. Make sure you are following Before You Bet, as we will have dedicated NFL betting tips for all primetime NFL games this season, as well as a preview of the main NFL slate on Mondays. All for free!
NFL Week 15 Preview & Betting Tips
Philadelphia Eagles at Seattle Seahawks
Lumen Field, Tuesday 19th December, 12:15pm (AEDT)
Last Week
The Seahawks weren’t terrible last week, in a 28-16 road loss to the 49ers. They managed to be somewhat competitive, despite starting quarterback Geno Smith missing the game. Unfortunately, despite their offense being serviceable, their defence was shredded by the 49ers, who managed 527 total yards at 9.9 yards per play. It’s difficult to win with a stat like that, and they will need a defensive bump this week if they’re to beat the Eagles.
Speaking of the Eagles, they were spanked by their NFC East rivals, the Cowboys, who trounced the Eagles 33-13 in Dallas. The Eagles weren’t terrible on offense stat wise, gaining 324 yards at 6.2 yards per play, however lost the turnover battle 3-1. The Cowboys were 3 from 3 in the redzone, and that was enough for the easy victory at home. The Eagles came out of the game with quarterback Jalen Hurts in doubt this week with sickness. Hurts even travelled west without his teammates, to ensure he didn’t infect any of his teammates.
Injury Report
Seattle Seahawks
LaTrell Bumphus / Mike Morris (DE) – OUT
Uchenna Nwosu / Drake Thomas (LB) – OUT
Jerrick Reed II (SAF) – OUT
Phil Haynes (OG) – OUT
Nick Bellore (LB) – Questionable
Jamal Adams (SS) – Questionable
Devon Witherspoon (CB) – Questionable
D’Wayne Eskridge (WR) – Questionable
Geno Smith (QB) – Questionable
Philadelphia Eagles
Shaun Bradley (LB) – OUT
Roderick Johnson (OT) – OUT
Avonte Maddox (CB) – OUT
Justin Evans (SS) – OUT
Zach Cunningham (ILB) – OUT
Darius Slay (CB) – OUT
Jam Jurgens (OG) – OUT
Jalen Hurts (QB) – Questionable
Match Preview
Ok, so the Seahawks have won 7-straight games against the Eagles, with the Eagles’ last win over the Seahawks coming back in early 2008. Almost 16 years since their last victory over the Seahawks, can the Eagles get it done? The most recent matchup was over 3 years ago, in week 12 of the 2020 NFL season. So, is there a hoodoo, or can we dismiss this trend? I’m going to dismiss it for now, but that doesn’t mean the Seahawks can’t win, just that it doesn’t factor into my handicap.
The Eagles were 4-point favourite on the lookahead, before re-opening as 5-point favourites after another Seahawks loss. With no injury concerns, I made this a 4.5-point spread, so it looked early in the week as though I wouldn’t have a play on this game. However, with the news of the Hurts illness slowly filtering through during the week, the Seahawks were bet rather heavily, to where it looked as though the Eagles may close as just 2.5-point favourites. If I knew Hurts was in, this would be an auto-bet at Eagles -3 (I have already bet it), but it is hard with the uncertainty at quarterback.
Looking at the total, it was 47 on the lookahead, before re-opening at the same number. Again, with the uncertainty surrounding Hurts, this total has been bet down to around 45 at the time of writing. Both these defences have been horrible this season, and even with a change in defensive play caller at the Eagles, I can’t see this changing overnight. I expect points to be scored in this one, even if Hurts is to miss out, as the Eagles have the offensive weapons to assist Marcus Mariota. The weather isn’t supposed to be too bad, so I’ll take the discount on the total here in Seattle. It could be worth waiting on this until kick-off, as if Hurts is ruled out, I expect this total to drop even further.
Over 45 total points
$1.91 (1.5 Units)
