The NFL season is finally upon us and we’re in for a fantastic opening game when the New England Patriots host last year's Super Bowl runners-up the Philadelphia Eagles in week 1.
The Eagles had a phenomenal season but fell short in the final game of the season against the Kansas City Chiefs back in February, while the Patriots had a poor campaign and failed to even make the playoffs.
But after a pre-season of recharging and recalibrating, we’ll take a look at the game and provide you with our best free NFL betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash while you watch the action.
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Philadelphia Eagles vs New England Patriots information
- Sunday, September 10th 2023
- Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
- 16:25 ET start time
Pre-season round up
After a poor season last year that saw New England fail to even make it to the playoffs, the Patriots have had a rough pre-season in preparation for this game against the Eagles.
They opened their season preparations with a home game against the Houston Texans and despite a decent start that saw them end the first-quarter 3-0 up, they failed to score another point until the fourth-quarter while conceding 13 points in the process en route to a 20-9 defeat.
That was followed up with a clash against the Green Bay Packers where the offense greatly improved with seven points in each of the first three quarters, while they also managed a complete shut-out in the second half to claim an impressive 21-17 win.
Their last game ended with a stunning 23-7 loss to the Tennessee Titans due to a fourth-quarter collapse that saw them drop ten points without a response.
Despite coming into the season as one of the favorites for the crown, the Eagles have had a horrible pre-season without a win in any of their three games against the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns or Indianapolis Colts.
A back and forth opener against Baltimore saw them lose 20-19 despite a decent showing, before fighting back in the fourth quarter against the Browns to earn an 18-18 tie. The final game saw them lead 10-7 heading into the second-quarter, but they managed just three points in the game and none in the second half as the Colts ran rampant to claim a 27-13 win.
NFL Picks: Philadelphia Eagles -4 @ -107
Most people watching the NFL last season are likely to be expecting the Patriots to finish somewhere around the bottom five this season, so the Eagles only being tipped to win by 5 or more after the season they had last year seems really doable.
There’s just such a massive gap in talent here. This feels like one of those lines where if these teams met later in the season, it would be Eagles -7. It's simply a case of people hoping it's a new season, which means new levels of performance.
The Patriots will roll out a new offensive scheme this year with Bill O’Brien calling plays. I won’t be shocked if New England experiences some sizable bumps out the gate against one of the league’s best defenses.
Even despite their poor pre-season showings, they are by far the better team of the two and Philadelphia should open the season with a rout. Jalen Hurts’ MVP candidacy starts in Week 1.
The Patriots have a serious quarterback issue and if the Eagles are able to pick up anywhere close to where they left off a year ago, they'll be playing from behind a lot.
The Eagles were a buzz saw last year, and they're just so explosive and solid that this should be a routine win by at least one touchdown if they play to their abilities.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
NFL Picks: Back the Unders @ -110
For the 2022 season, the Eagles’ over/under record was 11-9 with their games averaging 48.8 points per game. In games with an over/under line below today’s line of 45, their OU record was 5-6 compared to going 6-3 in games with over/under lines below 45.
The average over/under line in New England’s games last season was 42.4 points for the 2022 season, leading to an over/under record of 8-9. Overall, their games finished with an average of 41.8 points per game.
Before the game on Sunday, the recommendation here is to get some money down on the under market for this Patriots vs. Eagles game.
None of their six pre-season games combined to hit 45 points or more and realistically with this game likely to be quite one-sided in Philadelphia's favor they would need to do most of the scoring themselves.
The likelihood of the game being even enough to hit this tally is slim, so without Philadelphia going on a crazy scoring spree to do some real damage and run up the score, the under looks to be the play in this game.
Check out our review for BetUS sports betting here.
