Eagles vs Cardinals Prediction & Pick: NFL Week 17
The latest Eagles vs Cardinals odds have Philadelphia installed as a 12.5-point favorite on the spread with an over/under of 48 total points. For me, this line is a couple points too high — thus my Eagles vs Cardinals prediction & pick for NFL Week 17
The Eagles snapped their three-game losing streak with an eight-point home win against the Giants on Christmas. Philadelphia now just needs two wins in the final two games to secure an NFC East title and at least a top-three seed in the playoffs. Philadelphia is a heavy favorite to win its final two games, beginning on Sunday against the Cardinals at Lincoln Financial Field.
It's the return game for former Eagles defensive coordinator and Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon. The Cardinals defense is one of the worst units in the NFL this season. The path to success for Arizona is winning a high-scoring game as Kyler Murray hopes to exploit a vulnerable Philadelphia defense. Murray didn't practice on Wednesday or Thursday due to illness and is officially questionable, but he returned as a limited participant on Friday.
Eagles vs Cardinals Prediction & Pick
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Eagles vs Cardinals Odds
| Eagles Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-12.5 -110 | 48 -110o / -110u | -750 |
| Cardinals Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+12.5 -110 | 48 -110o / -110u | +525 |
Eagles vs Cardinals Preview
The Eagles have only won two games by double digits, and both came before Halloween. Philadelphia beat Tampa Bay by 14 in Week 3 and then handled Miami by 14 in Week 7.
Since then, there have been a medley of issues for the Eagles, culminating in the eventual three-game losing streak against San Francisco, Dallas and Seattle. The primary issue for the Eagles is their defense, which isn't getting consistent stops to warrant laying this high of a number.
Tommy DeVito was entirely ineffective on Monday against them, but the Eagles defense struggled to stop Tyrod Taylor once he came into the game in the second half. Taylor engineered four full drives and all four managed 30-plus yards. There are a ton of holes in the Eagles' back seven, especially over the middle, and the Cardinals use the middle of the field better than most offenses.
The defensive line didn’t generate a single sack last week against the most-sacked offense in the NFL — even the run defense numbers have taken a slide in the last month. They've played a tough schedule of opponents, but the Eagles defense ranks 31st in EPA per play since Week 9. They've been 30th against the run and 29th against the pass.
As much as Arizona struggled to move the ball early in last week's game, the Bears defense has actually been a top-five unit since October ended. The Cardinals have otherwise been competitive and feisty offensively since Kyler Murray returned — 29 points against San Francisco, 24 in Pittsburgh and 25 against Atlanta.
If the Eagles offense were operating at peak efficiency, I'd expect them to score 35-40 points against Arizona. But given their issues, the Eagles offense's lack of explosive plays likely means a lot of long, methodical drives.
Eagles vs Cardinals Picks | FanDuel
Reports of the demise of the Eagles offense have been largely overstated by the media. Offensive coordinator Brian Johnson has come under fire and the lack of creativity in the offense is a scapegoat as well.
Despite this, Philadelphia has a top-10 offense by every metric since Week 9 and is fifth in EPA per play with turnovers removed. The Eagles are on national TV and in primetime weekly, though, and they've struggled to put an entire 60 minutes of dominant football together.
At this point in the season, the point differential is pretty instructive of team strength overall. Philadelphia has the 10th-best point differential. The Eagles offense should be able to run the ball as it wants against a poor Cardinals run defense and generate an early lead. Philly was such an elite front runner last season because of its pass rush, but that pass rush has taken a major step back this season.
Rookie phenom Jalen Carter only played 19 snaps last week and Josh Sweat hasn't recorded a sack since Week 8. The Eagles nearly broke the NFL single-season sack record last year; now it's a unit that can't exploit teams forced to pass against them As a result, the Cardinals will move the ball enough to keep this game competitive.
Eagles vs Cardinals Prediction & Pick
The market opened with Philadelphia as a 10.5-point favorite and the market has bet the Eagles up even more to 12, comparable to last week. Given the inconsistent play of Jalen Hurts with regards to turnovers and the fact the Eagles have a bottom-five defense on one fewer day of rest, the spread is all too inflated on Philadelphia.
I'd bet the Cardinals at +1o or better.
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