Eagles vs Patriots Prediction - 2018 NFL Preseason Betting Pick

The Philadelphia Eagles visit the New England Patriots in week 2 of the NFL Preseason on Thursday, August 16, 2018 at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The encounter will be a rematch of last February’s Super Bowl 52 which the Eagles won 41-33 in exciting fashion. This will be the second preseason game for both squads. The Eagles are coming off a loss in their preseason opener while the Patriots are high after a come from behind victory in the 2018 NFL Preseason debut.

Playing It Safe?

The Super Bowl champions Eagles are looking to turn things around. Philadelphia played relatively well in the first half of their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers as they trailed by just one at 15-4 but were blanked in the second half, giving up 16 points while scoring zero, as the Steelers won 31-14.

The Eagles only had two first downs in the second half until their final drive of the contest where they moved the ball for 74 yards in 12 plays before committing a turnover at the Pittsburgh 12 yard line. In total, Pittsburgh gained 346 yards as compared to Philadelphia’s 325 and won the battle of first downs at 19 versus 16.

Nate Sudfeld threw 10-14 for 140 yards with two touchdowns but his efforts went for naught after he also threw two interceptions. Josh Adams and Corey Clement each rushed for 30 yards for the Eagles seemed to play it safe by sitting out both Carson Wentz and Nick Foles in that contest. Shelton Gibson led all Philly receivers with 77 total yards caught plus a touchdown while Dallas Goedert had four receptions to top all Eagles’ receivers.

Philadelphia’s defense posted three sacks as a team while Kamu Grugier-Hill led the Eagles with six sacks and Rasul Douglas coming up with one interception.

What’re the Odds?

Philadelphia Eagles vs New England Patriots 8/18/19 Odds
Odds: Eagles +165, Patriots -190
Odds from Betonline.ag as of 8/15/18

Looking For Revenge

Fresh off an impressive come from behind win in their preseason opener, the New England Patriots are looking for revenge against the team that denied them a piece of history at Super Bowl 52.

The Patriots dug themselves a 0-17 hole in the second quarter of their preseason game before scoring 26 unanswered points to complete a come from behind win over the Washington Redskins. In that game, New England scored 16 fourth quarter points to turn a 10-17 deficit at the end of the third quarter to a 26-17 win.

Brian Hoyer converted on 16-23 passes and threw for 144 yards including a two-point conversion. But it was the New England running game which got them going, producing all three touchdowns scored by the Patriots. Jeremy Hill ran for a team high 51 yards on 11 carries with 1 touchdown while Ralph Webb has 46 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns.

Ja’Whaun Bentley and Elandon Roberts led the Patriots with five tackels each while Patrick Chung looked good in his short time on the field with two tackles while providing excellent coverage. The Patriots had three sacks as a team against Washington. 13 year veteran Stephen Gostkowski sank a 52 yard field goal for New England in his only field goal attempt of the game.

Who Wins?

The biggest difference maker in this game is most probably the quarterback position. The New England Patriots have Brian Hoyer who has plenty of experience in the NFL as a starter. Based on his performance in Week 1, Hoyer should get more exposure in this game.

Nate Sudfeld showed that he has plenty of talent but he showed his inexperience during the Eagles 13-31 home loss to the Steelers in Week 1. It will be interesting to see if Doug Pederson is going to play either Carson Wentz or Nick Foles in this contest because either could make a difference here. But with Wentz coming off an injury and Foles battling neck spasms, Pederson might as well opt to rest his main play callers for the regular season.

Betting Prediction

This may just be a preseason game but you bet me that the Patriots are itching to beat the Eagles after losing the last Super Bowl. Without their main men, the Eagles didn’t look good in Week 1 of the preseason while the Patriots seemed like they are ready for the regular season grind with a terrific come from behind win in their first preseason encounter. Wins like that tend to bring momentum forward hence we expect New England to play with plenty of confidence here. Based on recent form, the Patriots are a good bet.

New England is also good when playing at Gillette so we’re picking the New England Patriots to beat the Philadelphia Eagles on 8/16/18..

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