The Thursday Night Football battle between the Eagles and Commanders will be a tough one.
We probably won’t be able to match the drama and excitement of last week’s Ravens–Bengals TNF game, but Washington at Philadelphia still seems like it has the potential to be a classic.
Let’s start here: Weirdly, the Eagles haven’t been great at home lately, failing to cover in six straight at Lincoln Financial Field.
And that includes two recent games as big favorites (Browns, Jaguars).
But home games at night are a different animal for the Eagles when Jalen Hurts is under center. His record in those instances is 8-2-1 against the spread (ATS).
Fully-healthy Philly is fresh off a 34-6 win over Dallas. In that game, the Eagles sat starters for most of the fourth quarter.
Keep in mind that star WR A.J. Brown is also back in the lineup, and when he plays, Philly is 6-0 this season.
Would you rather have Jalen Hurts or Jayden Daniels in Eagles-Commanders showdown?
Only one rookie QB this year has played in TNF, and that’s Bo Nix. The Broncos QB got an easy 33-10 win over the Saints. Nix threw for a pedestrian 164 yards, but the Broncos rushed for 225 yards and rolled to victory.
Short weeks for young QBs, at night and on the road can be a dangerous recipe. But it should be noted that Jayden Daniels did go to Cincinnati on Monday Night Football and torch the Bengals.
He went 21-for-23 passing for 254 yards, two touchdowns, plus another 39 yards on the ground.
However, one big edge here goes to Vic Fangio.
His Eagles defense has been improving weekly, especially in the secondary with two rookies. Some of that is because the opponents have been terrible, but his two linebackers — Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean — have been tremendous this season. And they’re built to slow the Washington running game.
I want to make a play on the Over, but it has been bet down from 50.5 to 48.5. The Kellen Moore vs. Dan Quinn matchup is also fascinating, as both spent years together in Dallas, and that edge probably goes to Quinn.
But Moore has better weapons now than he did in Dallas.
PICK: Philadelphia (-3.5) to win by more than 3.5 points
Jason McIntyre is a FOX Sports betting analyst who also writes about the NFL and NBA Draft. Before arriving at FOX, he created the website The Big Lead. Follow him on Twitter @JasonRMcIntyre.
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