Philadelphia had a bye last week. Detroit stumbled 17-14 at lowly Chicago last Sunday.
The Eagles are averaging 31 ppg which is 2nd in the NFL. They have been propelled by the play of rookie QB Carson Wentz who has thrown 5 TD passes, no interceptions and who has a QB rating of 103.8. In their visit to the Bears, they won by 15 points. Wentz has done a nice job of distributing the ball and gets TE Zach Ertz (ribs) back from injury. The Lions are allowing 272 passing ypg and have surrendered 12 TD passes to one interception. I see Wentz having a big day against a defense that could be missing two of their best defenders, DE Ziggy Ansah (ankle) and OLB DeAndre Levy (thigh). Philadelphia’s running game hasn’t been as good as their passing attack but RBs Ryan Matthews and Wendell Smallwood are averaging a shade under 4.0 ypc and have scored a combined 4 TDs on the ground. Detroit is yielding 4.8 ypc, 30th in the league as they haven’t been able to stop the run either. Philly will have a shakeup on their o-line as RT Lane Johnson is expected to be out due to suspension but OLs Allen Barbre and Stefen Wisniewski are seasoned veterans.
The Lions offensive attack is fairly one-sided as they average only 92 rushing yards per game. That has forced QB Matthew Stafford to try and win games himself which he hasn’t done a great job of in 2016. He has a 7-4 TD/INT ratio and has been sacked 10 times. Philadelphia has 10 sacks in 3 games and look for DT Fletcher Cox and DE Brandon Graham (3 sacks each) to get good pressure on Stafford. WR Marvin Jones ranks 2nd in the NFL with 120 receiving ypg and the Eagles secondary would be wise to double team him on occasion and force Stafford to look elsewhere. Philly has allowed an average of only 203 passing ypg and have yet to concede a TD pass. Detroit failed to score an offensive TD last week against a shaky Bears defense. RBs Theo Riddick and rookie Dwayne Washington will try to spark the ground game but Riddick (3.1 ypc) is more noted for his ability as a pass catcher.
Public Money
This week’s matchup between the Eagles and the Lions see the public heavily leaning to the Eagles to cover the 3 point spread as the visiting team with 80%. The over/under bettors are also thinking that this game is going to go over the posted 47 point total with 70% confidence.
