Who picks up the wild card ticket in the NFC?
UPDATE 12/18: The game has been moved to Tuesday night 1:00 due to more Covid cases. The odds have also changed somewhat again as a result and we have included the latest changes. Nevertheless, it is worth keeping an eye on the daily developments here!
6:7 are the magic numbers in the NFC when it comes to playoff qualification. Because a whole five teams currently have this record and probably only one of them will make it to the postseason in the end.
Two of those five teams will meet head-to-head in Philadelphia on Sunday, when the Eagles host the Washington Football Team. However, the conditions for this matchup, which is even on paper, are anything but.
Because Washington has had endless injury woes in recent weeks. If we look at the team’s depth chart, we see that a whole eight starters are marked “out”, and then of their backups, there are even ten more.
18 absences that a team like Washington will never be able to absorb, which is why our prediction for Eagles vs. Washington is a clear success for the home team. Since they play the WFT twice more this season, their chances of making the postseason increase accordingly.
Kickoff of the NFL Match Week 15 game is Sunday night at 19:00 in Philadelphia. The match can be watched live in the RedZone on DAZN.
Philadelphia Eagles – Statistics & current form
The Eagles could benefit from the Washington football team’s injury woes. Since they meet Washington twice in their last four games, they only need one more win (Giants, Cowboys) to end up with a positive record.
That would almost certainly be enough for the post-season and then everything is possible. Even though the season has been quite inconsistent so far, on a good day Philly is ready for any surprise.
Hurts one of the “most improved players “
This is mainly due to quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has taken a big step forward and who even among the experts is considered to have a great chance of winning the “most improved player” title. The biggest leap has been from the start of the season to the current point of the season.
While he delivered unfortunate plays at the beginning, he is currently a weapon thanks to his running game (Giants game excluded). We therefore expect him to be on the field on Sunday, despite Minshew’s strong performance in Hurt’s absence.
How high do the Eagles win?
With Washington’s major personnel concerns, the only question left for us is how emphatic the Philly win will be. A similar personnel scramble resulted in a 10-38 loss to the Broncos for the Lions the previous week.
A similar Philly margin of victory is possible on Sunday, but we don’t need that much of a handicap. Already -5.5 are enough to make a bet with decent value on Eagles against Washington. This handicap bet is therefore also our bet recommendation.
Key Players:
QB: Jalen Hurts
RB: Boston Scott
WR: DeVonta Smith
TE: Dallas Goedert
K: Jake Elliott
Washington Football Team – Statistics & Current Form
Oh woe, WFT. There they are fighting their way back into the playoff race with an irrepressible fighting spirit, only to be without half their team in the crucial games – only three of them due to Covid protocol, all the others due to injuries.
Again against Dallas, important pillars of their team were injured, among them centre Tyler Larson and Curtis Samuel. With Samuel, there is at least a mini-chance that he will be able to play after all. It would be vital, as Cam Sims will also be missing.
WFT also statistically behind the Eagles
Even if both teams were to play at full strength, however, the Eagles would be the clear favourites. For example, they have already scored 71 more points and conceded 33 fewer points than the Washington football team this season.
That makes a total deficit of 6.9 points per game from Washington’s point of view compared to Philly – and that’s without taking into account their losses. So the game should end up going even more clearly against them and a double-digit defeat seems very likely.
Defence as the last lifeline?
Or will their defence be able to provoke a low-scoring game with the right tactics? Like they did in the fourth quarter against Dallas. We are sceptical here too, however, because Chase Young is by far their best pass rusher.
No matter how we look at it, there is little to be said for Washington, which is why a bet against the Eagles vs. Washington football team seems much more promising – and that in all possible variations (handicap, HZ/final result, win + over-points).
Key Players:
QB: Taylor Heinicke
RB: Antonio Gibson
WR: Terry McLaurin
TE: Ricky Seals-Jones
K: Joey Slye
Philadelphia Eagles – Washington Football Team Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
In the preseason, both duels went to Washington. However, the Eagles had to deal with similar injury problems as the WFT this year. In the three years before that, Philly always had the upper hand.
However, none of this counts at the moment, as Washington’s personnel problems are so serious that even the betting companies are taking this into account. Thus, Philadelphia’s favourite status rose from -4.5 to -9.5 in just three days, only to land back at 5.5 after the game was postponed.
However, this is still a handicap we can aim for, as for Philadelphia vs. Washington the odds at -9.5 are good enough for betting. At the end of the day, we even expect the margin to be double digits.
Philadelphia Eagles – Washington Football Team Tip
We’ve covered Washington’s injury woes at length now, but even aside from that, they rarely deliver dream performances this season. Even during their brief winning streak, they more or less struggled to narrow victories.
The Eagles are a different story, having won their last four by at least eleven points. We expect the same on Sunday, which is why we are aiming for a tip at good betting odds on the Eagles -4.5 in the duel between the Eagles and Washington.
Alternatively, bets on a rushing touchdown by Jalen Hurts are also an option. He’s already delivered eight of them this season and could very well add another against this depleted WFT defence.
