Nearly two years after the New England Patriots found themselves on the losing end of a shocking Super Bowl upset against the Philadelphia Eagles, the team will finally get a chance to avenge that loss when they travel to Philadelphia in week 11 of the NFL season (4:25 PM ET Sunday).
Of course, the stakes aren’t nearly as high this time, but that doesn’t mean that the intensity won’t be. It’s not often the Patriots come to town but when they do, Philly makes their collective voice heard.
The Eagles weren’t supposed to win the 2017-18 Super Bowl and everyone told them that. New England was Goliath, Philadelphia was David. Tom Brady was the proven star and Nick Foles was the backup whose luck had to run out. Bill Belichick, one of the greatest coaches in NFL history versus Doug Pederson, the new guy trying to make a historic mark. The Eagles defied all odds and expectations and they did so in stunning fashion. Still to this day, the “Philly Special” is memorialized, as its statue sits outside the stadium and its hero, despite moving on, still beloved and considered among the city’s greats.
If the game of football was about what was supposed to happen, then there would be no reason even to play week-in and week-out. Who is supposed to win on paper is an indicator but not an absolute. When the Eagles defeated the Patriots, it was an unexpected result around the league, but it happened. Then, the following year, New England, in an expected result, returned to claim the Super Bowl crown that has never been far from their grasp. Entering the 2019-20 season, both the Eagles and Patriots were positioned to make strong cases for why they might return to the NFL’s championship game. However, their paths have since diverged. Here is a brief look back on the season for each of these teams before USAbetting concludes with our New England Patriots vs Philadelphia Eagles predictions.
Season So Far: (5-4) Philadelphia Eagles
A 5-4 record is not what Philadelphia had hoped for coming into this season. Returning from the season-ending injury of last year, the team had high expectations for Carson Wentz and the new Eagles offense. In the first game of 2019, everyone liked what they saw, namely when it came to the return of DeSean Jackson, who wasted no time putting big numbers on the board in his Philadelphia homecoming. Jackson has been plagued by injuries this season and he is not the only one. The Eagles have been without their deep ball threat for much of the year, but they have also had injuries to their running back corps, their defensive secondary, and their offensive line. It has very much been a war of attrition for the Eagles and their record is indicative of that.
After a win against the Washington Redskins in week one, the Eagles dropped back-to-back close games to the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions. In both games, the Eagles had a chance for a late game victory but were unable to do so. In week four, Philly had a huge win when they forced Aaron Rodgers to throw his first interception of the season during what would have been a red zone, game-winning touchdown for the Green Bay Packers. The following week, the Eagles took care of business against a hapless New York Jets team. Then they lost two in a row against the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys loss was the Eagles’ worst of the season as they were thoroughly embarrassed by their most hated divisional rival. For a lot of people, this was a pivotal point of the season. The Eagles were about to enter the toughest part of their schedule and it was time to either sink or swim. For Philadelphia, the loss seemed to be a motivator as the Eagles managed to turn things around with consecutive victories over the Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears. As one can tell by the Eagles schedule, failing to string together more than two wins in a row has been a problem. Starting with their first game, the Eagles won one, lost two, won two, lost two, won two. With their next two against the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, it wouldn’t be that shocking if said pattern continues.
Season So Far: (8-1) New England Patriots
It’s 8-1. That sounds about right for a Patriots team that entered the season with the USA bookie sites as top odds to win yet another Super Bowl. Over the first eight games, New England even looked unbeatable, like another 16-0 record was on its way. Then something happened in week nine, New England was humbled.
As the Patriots began to rack up massive victories, their defense was pristine and perfect. At one point, New England’s defense had even combined to allow less points to Patriot opponents than the Miami Dolphins offense had scored. The Dolphins have since turned things around a bit, but to put it into context, over the first eight weeks, New England allowed no more than 14 points on any individual week. They pitched two shut outs and had another two games where they only allowed single-digit point totals.
As great as the wins were, and as the saying goes, winning is all that matters, it was easy to question the quality of opponents New England was playing as the defending Super Bowl champions had the easiest schedule of any team to open the season. Sure, many of New England’s opponents have been more successful of late, but still, New England’s wins include against the 2-7 Dolphins, 2-7 Jets, 4-6 Cleveland Browns, 5-5 Pittsburgh Steelers, 2-8 New York Giants and 1-8 Redskins. Their only opponent over the first eight weeks with a +.500 record was the 6-3 Bills.
Week nine brought the Patriots their toughest test in the form of the now 7-2 Baltimore Ravens. It brought New England’s defense back down to earth as the formidable run defense was powerless to stop Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram. In fact, Jackson burned them through the air as well, ripping apart what had looked to be the NFL’s best defense. The final score was 37-20.
Our Betting Preview’s New England Patriots vs Philadelphia Eagles Predictions & Picks Verdict
While the Eagles are at home in this one, perhaps the most important thing to consider is that Belichick’s Patriots rarely lose two games in a row. The last time it happened was in 2015 and overall, it’s happened just a handful of times. So this is how USAbetting’s NE Patriots vs Eagles Predictions shape up:
- For the first of the picks, take New England and the -4 points they are favored on the spread @ best odds of -115 with Intertops or Bookmaker. It is -4.5pts at -110 with Bovada.
- With the U.S. sportsbooks’ total points betting lines, look for the over 44.5pts @ -110 with Intertops, Bookmaker or BetOnline. It is over 45pts with Bovada. Although, the final score certainly won’t be 41-33 as it was in Super Bowl LII.
Marilee writes on NFL, MLB, NBA & tennis for USA Betting. Another area of her sporting journalistic expertise is pro wrestling. A native of Philadelphia and a big Eagles fan, she has been a sports writer for many major websites including Bleacher Report and Rant Sports. She started her journalistic career early, as sports editor for her college newspaper.