NFL odds Favor Bengals by 3 Over Eagles
Friday night's preseason betting battle between the Eagles and Bengals could be the last chance for some prospects to prove their worth. Cincinnati is a 3-point favorite in the FOX broadcast.
These games don’t count? Tell that to all those players fighting for a job.
There are hundreds of fringe NFL prospects and suspects trying to earn a spot this month on one of the league’s 53-man rosters. Most of those players won’t go on to fame or glory; they’ll get in a few snaps here and there on special teams, but they’ll be paid well for doing it. And when it comes time to get a “real job” down the road, being able to say you were an NFL player gets your foot in a lot of doors. In short, livelihoods are at stake.
Friday night’s matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cincinnati Bengals will be the last chance at the brass ring for some of these players. The first roster cuts aren’t due until August 31, but now that the opening week of the preseason is behind us, the starters are going to get more of the playing time – at least for the Eagles.
The situation may be a little different for the Bengals, who already have two games under their belt thanks to the Hall of Fame Game in Canton. Cincinnati is making a short turnaround as well after playing on just four days of rest.
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis hasn’t tipped his hand yet about how long his starters will play on Friday, only saying that some of them will get more burn then they did in last week’s 33-24 victory over the Denver Broncos (+3½ road dogs). We saw QB Carson Palmer and the first unit play halfway through the second quarter of that matchup. The Bengals have a number of banged-up players; DE Robert Geathers (foot) and FB Fui Vakapuna (shoulder) are out, and several others are hobbling around the dressing room.
On the Eagles side, we expect their starters to put in the entire first half, which is standard operating procedure in Week 2 of the preseason. Coach Andy Reid will send QB Kevin Kolb out there with extra emphasis on getting the ball in the end zone, after the first unit was held to a pair of field goals in the first quarter of their 28-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars (+3 road dogs).
The back-up quarterbacks are fairly entrenched in their positions, none more so than Eagles No. 2 Michael Vick, who tore up Jacksonville last week for 119 yards passing, 50 yards rushing and a 10-yard TD run. The Bengals respond with veteran J.T. O’Sullivan, who has a big leg up over Carson’s younger brother Jordan on Cincinnati’s depth chart.
When it comes to the third-string QBs, the Eagles have to be happier with what they’ve seen from rookie Mike Kafka, their fourth-round pick from Northwestern who led Philly downfield for a touchdown and the winning field goal on successive drives against the Jags.
The feeding frenzy for a roster spot will begin in earnest later in the second half. And this is where Cincinnati’s injury problems will pose the biggest problem. Players from the second unit are going to have to move up to fill in for Geathers and Vakapuna. On top of that, the offensive line will be missing some key reserves, including tackles Anthony Collins and Andrew Mitchell. There will be many instances in the second half of Friday’s game where Philadelphia’s second- and third-stringers are matched up against players at the bottom of Cincinnati’s depth chart.
This is where the Eagles are likely to do the most damage this week. Normally, this is not a good spot for Philly supporters – their team is 4-14 ATS in the first two weeks of the preseason dating all the way back to 1993. And the Bengals are 16-12-1 ATS under Lewis. The betting odds have the Eagles as 3-point road dogs, but this is not a typical preseason situation given Cincinnati’s injuries and the extra workload the players have endured.
Friday night's preseason betting battle between the Eagles and Bengals could be the last chance for some prospects to prove their worth. Cincinnati is a 3-point favorite in the FOX broadcast.
These games don’t count? Tell that to all those players fighting for a job.
There are hundreds of fringe NFL prospects and suspects trying to earn a spot this month on one of the league’s 53-man rosters. Most of those players won’t go on to fame or glory; they’ll get in a few snaps here and there on special teams, but they’ll be paid well for doing it. And when it comes time to get a “real job” down the road, being able to say you were an NFL player gets your foot in a lot of doors. In short, livelihoods are at stake.
Friday night’s matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cincinnati Bengals will be the last chance at the brass ring for some of these players. The first roster cuts aren’t due until August 31, but now that the opening week of the preseason is behind us, the starters are going to get more of the playing time – at least for the Eagles.
The situation may be a little different for the Bengals, who already have two games under their belt thanks to the Hall of Fame Game in Canton. Cincinnati is making a short turnaround as well after playing on just four days of rest.
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis hasn’t tipped his hand yet about how long his starters will play on Friday, only saying that some of them will get more burn then they did in last week’s 33-24 victory over the Denver Broncos (+3½ road dogs). We saw QB Carson Palmer and the first unit play halfway through the second quarter of that matchup. The Bengals have a number of banged-up players; DE Robert Geathers (foot) and FB Fui Vakapuna (shoulder) are out, and several others are hobbling around the dressing room.
On the Eagles side, we expect their starters to put in the entire first half, which is standard operating procedure in Week 2 of the preseason. Coach Andy Reid will send QB Kevin Kolb out there with extra emphasis on getting the ball in the end zone, after the first unit was held to a pair of field goals in the first quarter of their 28-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars (+3 road dogs).
The back-up quarterbacks are fairly entrenched in their positions, none more so than Eagles No. 2 Michael Vick, who tore up Jacksonville last week for 119 yards passing, 50 yards rushing and a 10-yard TD run. The Bengals respond with veteran J.T. O’Sullivan, who has a big leg up over Carson’s younger brother Jordan on Cincinnati’s depth chart.
When it comes to the third-string QBs, the Eagles have to be happier with what they’ve seen from rookie Mike Kafka, their fourth-round pick from Northwestern who led Philly downfield for a touchdown and the winning field goal on successive drives against the Jags.
The feeding frenzy for a roster spot will begin in earnest later in the second half. And this is where Cincinnati’s injury problems will pose the biggest problem. Players from the second unit are going to have to move up to fill in for Geathers and Vakapuna. On top of that, the offensive line will be missing some key reserves, including tackles Anthony Collins and Andrew Mitchell. There will be many instances in the second half of Friday’s game where Philadelphia’s second- and third-stringers are matched up against players at the bottom of Cincinnati’s depth chart.
This is where the Eagles are likely to do the most damage this week. Normally, this is not a good spot for Philly supporters – their team is 4-14 ATS in the first two weeks of the preseason dating all the way back to 1993. And the Bengals are 16-12-1 ATS under Lewis. The betting odds have the Eagles as 3-point road dogs, but this is not a typical preseason situation given Cincinnati’s injuries and the extra workload the players have endured.
