The Philadelphia Eagles opened as 13.5-point home favorites against the New York Giants in Week 18, according to our friends over at DraftKings Sportsbook.
That’s obviously a very big line. No team is favored by more points in the final week of the regular season, though the San Francisco 49ers are only a half-point behind.
This line seems to be suggesting that the Giants are going to rest their starters. New York has nothing to play for after locking up their spot as the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoff picture.
The Giants could always opt to play for pride and try to knock Philly out of the top spot in the conference. But there’s still a path to the Eagles clinching the No. 1 seed even if they lose.
And even if the Giants do prevent Philly from clinching home field advantage, they might just be assisting the Dallas Cowboys to get it instead. Or the aforementioned 49ers. Is that really preferable for them?
Maybe so. But they’d be risking injuries to their starters in the process. And they’re already so banged up this season. Feels unnecessarily risky when they can just sit their key players for a quasi-bye week.
The line may shift this week as we learn more about the Giants’ intentions. For now, it looks like the Eagles might have a favorable path to clinching the No. 1 seed.
Beating up on backups would not be the most impressive way to earning home field advantage. But, hey, the Birds will take it. And let’s not forget that the Dallas Cowboys basically just got handed a free win with the Tennessee Titans opting to rest a bunch of starters in a Week 17 game that was meaningless for them.
The line for this week’s Eagles-Giants game also seems to line up with reports about Jalen Hurts being available to play in Week 18. It’s hard to believe Hurts won’t be out there with so much on the line for the Birds.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login