Philadelphia Eagles vs Seattle Seahawks: Too obvious?

Did they deserve it?

I wrote about the Philadelphia Eagles and the entire situation in the NFC East in previous weeks. They are extremely lucky that their division was so atrocious this season. They entered the final week with the losing record (7-8) and clinched the division with the win over the Giants. Cowboys had a bunch of opportunities to run away with it in the second half of the season, but they were making mistake after mistake and kept Eagles in the game.

Eagles' situation with injuries is quite bad at the moment. Lane Johnson got ruled out and with Brandon Brooks already placed on IR, the right side of that offensive line will be a liability. But the problems one offense doesn't end there. They are without a trio of wide receivers that were projected starters in the beginning. DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffrey and Nelson Agholor. Instead of them, Robert Davis, JJ Arcega-Whiteside and Greg Ward will play in three WR sets.

Beastmode is back

On the other side, Seattle isn't doing much better. They will also be without their best lineman - LT Duane Brown. Possibly also without guard Mike Iupati. Injuries that hit them at running back position were actually so catastrophic that they were forced to lure Marshawn Lynch and Robert Turbin out of retirement! But as we could see against the Niners, Beastmode is not in the best shape of his life and the blocking upfront is not helping him much. Unfortunately for them, they are facing another stout front 7 today.

This Seattle team has it's weaknesses, but somehow they were able to overcome them int he regular season time and time again. Mostly by giving the ball in Russell Wilson's hands and hope for the best. That is not a recipe for success when it comes to the playoffs, but this time around, it might be enough. The way I see this one, both offenses could struggle to get some flow and rhythm and will have to make some off-script plays, to make things happen.

Eagles vs Seahawks best bet

There is a recurring theme, when it comes to Eagles defense for quite some time now. Jim Schwartz is employing a very aggressive scheme that demands a good one on one coverage outside the numbers. But their corners were failing to deliver most often than not, getting burned for big plays pretty much every week. Seattle's offense with so much speed at the wideout position (Lockett, Metcalf, Gordon) and a QB that can extend the play with his mobility is one of the worst possible matchups for them. Jalen Mills will bite on a double-move and Lockett will take it to the house for 65 yards. When we talk about traditional markets, going with Seattle at evens seems just too easy. Betting NFL, nothing is handed to you easy, so beware of that play.