Eagles vs. 49ers Odds
| Eagles Odds | +3 (-115) |
| 49ers Odds | -3 (-105) |
| Moneyline | -155 / +135 |
| Over/Under | 49 |
| Time | 1 p.m. ET |
| TV | FOX |
| Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute NFL odds here. | |
This is one of three Week 2 games featuring a pair of unbeaten teams.
The San Francisco 49ers were always meant to win their opener in Detroit. They got out to a huge 38-10 lead before sputtering to the finish and holding on for dear life. Meanwhile, it was the Philadelphia Eagles who dominated wire to wire in a 32-6 win in Atlanta.
One of these teams that finished last in its division in 2019 will emerge 2-0 and perhaps become the favorite to be this year's worst-to-first division winner.
This was the "Take Me On" game of the week on our Action podcast, and I argued the case for the 49ers there. I like San Francisco to get the road win and get to 2-0, but this looks set to be a tough game that either team can win.
Don't Worry About 49ers' Late-Game Issues
Let's talk about that near collapse against the Lions in Week 1.
It sure felt desperate, but it was nowhere near as bad as it looked and might not have been anything more than the perfect confluence of worst-case scenarios that still piled up to barely put the Niners in jeopardy.
Consider that San Francisco fumbled its opening snap of the season but then responded by getting into scoring position on its next seven drives, scoring five touchdowns and attempting two field goals en route to a 28-point lead early in the second half. And they did that without presumed lead wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk or speedy running back Raheem Mostert doing much.
The 49ers led 41-17 with under two minutes left. Do the math — a 24-point lead after the two-minute warning. That means the Lions would have to score three touchdowns and three two-point conversions, which also means Detroit has to either recover two onside kicks or force an extremely unlikely fumble when all the 49ers are trying to do is run the clock out.
Yes, Detroit got two of those TDs, two two-pointers, an onside recovery and a fumble recovery. But that is an absurdly unlikely sequence and it still left the Lions a TD and another two-point conversion short — and all that would've done was send the game into overtime, where the Niners would've been a serious favorite even still.
This was not an escape by the 49ers. Conversely, this was a dominant win for 58 minutes and then a bananas two minutes with the game already well in hand. Rather than worry about a Niners collapse, we should be thanking them for superficially looking vulnerable and suppressing this line.
The 49ers area a really good. The team returns some of its most important players from injury, names like Jimmy Garoppolo, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Nick Bosa. Already the injuries are starting up again, with Mostert and lead cornerback Jason Verrett out for the year, but this is still a loaded roster with the potential to be real contenders again.
Verrett is a real loss. San Francisco was already thin at corner, and it has now signed Dre Kirkpatrick, who rated pretty poorly in most metrics last year.
Mostert may not be a huge loss though. Sixth-round rookie Elijah Mitchell looks poised to step into a starting role in the backfield. He's a perfect fit for this offense as a one-cut runner, and the Kyle Shanahan system has seen breakout late-round RBs like Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, Olandis Gary, Alfred Morris and Mostert, for that matter.
I played Mitchell at 500/1 to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, but he still has value at +5000 at PointsBet.
The 49ers will be just fine with Mitchell and others in the backfield, and the weird late collapse in Detroit might have briefly hidden how good this team can be when everything is clicking.
San Francisco looks like a contender in the NFC.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles did get their dominant win in Week 1, going on the road to Atlanta and pulling the upset with a shocking final score of 32-6.
The win was nowhere near as dominant as it looked, though. It was 7-6 just a couple plays before halftime, and Philadelphia had yet to do much on offense outside of one nice TD pass to DeVonta Smith.
Atlanta's remade offense under Arthur Smith looked good early but then disappeared altogether. The Falcons gained 72 and 74 yards on their first two drives but stalled in the red zone and settled for a pair of field goals inside the 10-yard line.
Atlanta then recorded just 77 more yards on its remaining 10 drives, thanks largely to going three-of-14 on third down and one-for-three on fourth. That neutered attack gave the Eagles the ball three times in Falcons territory, and Philadelphia's three second-half scoring drives started at Atlanta's 21-, 22-, and 50-yard lines.
Philadelphia's defense gets some credit for all of that, of course, but third- and fourth-down rates typically are not predictable.
The Eagles offense, meanwhile, was not inspiring.
Jalen Hurts had an efficient game with 27-of-35 passing for 264 yards and three touchdowns, but it was mostly his receivers making plays. He averaged a comically low -6.2 air yards to the stick per throw, per Next Gen Stats. These were short, quick passes and Philly's playmakers beating bad Falcons defenders — San Francisco will be a much steeper defensive test.
And as per usual, the Eagles injuries are already starting to mount.
Check out the list of players limited in practice this week: Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Ryan Kerrigan, Darius Slay, Miles Sanders, Zach Ertz, Brandon Brooks, Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson. Most of those names should play Sunday, but it's a bit worrisome that a team with such a deep injury history is already starting to feel the pains after just one game.
Still, let's give credit to what the Eagles did so well in Week 1, the same thing they've done well when they've won games over the past few years — they dominated in the trenches. When healthy, the Eagles might have top-five offensive- and defensive-line units.
Philadelphia matches strength for strength in the trenches with the 49ers. The question is whether its skill players measure up.
49ers-Eagles Pick
It feels like the misleading final scores in Week 1 are buying us a few points of value in Week 2. The 49ers dominated the only portion of the game that mattered but ended up looking a bit frenzied with their frenetic finish. The Eagles were stout but mostly benefited from a bad Falcons roster imploding, ballooning the final score to a more dominant-looking win than it really was.
The Eagles have a slight advantage in the trenches, but San Francisco is no slouch there. If that's mostly a draw, then we have to look for edges elsewhere. And while Hurts and Smith had nice Week 1 performances for Philly, there's little question that Garoppolo, Kittle, Samuel and other 49ers are the better offensive weapons by a wide margin, especially in Shanahan's dangerous system.
I would've expected this line to be near a touchdown before Week 1, with the 49ers contending for the No. 1 seed in the NFC and the Eagles more likely to push for the No. 1 pick.
Now that this line has dropped down to just -3, I'm very happy to grab the 49ers. They're the better team with more talent on both sides of the ball and a real coaching advantage. At -3, I can win by a late field goal and take the push if needed.
This line is dropping, so it's tempting to wait for the hook and hope to get to -2.5, but it's just as likely to go back the other way and I don't want to risk losing the hook.
I'll grab the 49ers at -3 while it's there and trust San Francisco to get the road win in Week 2.
Pick: 49ers -3 (+105) at PointsBet
