September 09, 2024
Kirby Lee/Imagn Images
Will Saquon Barkley have another excellent performance in store for his Lincoln Financial Field homecoming?
It was far from pretty, but the Eagles got their Week 1 win over the Packers down in Brazil and are now heading back to Philly looking to make it 2-0 next Monday night in front of their actual home crowd at Lincoln Financial Field.
Looking to play spoiler will be Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons, but now that the opening week in the NFL is mostly complete, the sportsbooks are leaning pretty heavily toward the Eagles for this one.
Here's a look...
| Sportsbook | Spread | Money Line | Total O/U |
| DraftKings | PHI -6.5 | ATL +240 PHI -298 | 48 |
| FanDuel | PHI -6.5 | ATL +240 PHI -295 | 47.5 |
| BetRivers | PHI -6 | ATL +220 PHI -275 | 48 |
| BetMGM | PHI -6.5 | ATL +240 PHI -300 | 48.5 |
| Bally's | PHI -6 | ATL +220 PHI -275 | 48 |
As rough as the Eagles looked at times on Friday, they did still put up 34 points against an upstart Green Bay team while the defense put up some impressive shutdown stretches to get the job done.
Saquon Barkley looked excellent in his Eagles debut, scoring three of the team's four touchdowns and running for 109 yards on the ground, while the Birds' other offensive threats in A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert gradually heated up and started making their plays as the game went on. Jalen Hurts was solid for the most part and pulled the Eagles through late when it counted, but he had two ugly turnovers on the first two possessions to start 2024, then threw a needless pick in the fourth quarter trying to force a home run pass across his body on 3rd and long that set his team back on their heels.
They held on, but there are definitely a few things the Eagles are going to need to clean up over the next week of practice.
"I definitely could have avoided some of those things," Hurts said afterward. "I put us in a bad spot as a team, but in the end, we made some crucial plays to extend drives, crucial plays down the field, crucial plays on defense, and even showing up on special teams as well. That's what it's all about, but you're going to keep pressing forward, keep pressing forward."
MORE: Jalen Hurts led an Eagles win, but with turnover concerns to address
As for the Falcons in their opener against the Steelers on Sunday? They struggled to move the ball, Cousins threw two interceptions, and Atlanta got beat 18-10 by a Pittsburgh team that only needed to outkick them to win.
So, pretty reasonably, the odds are falling in favor of the Eagles here, especially if Barkley has a lot more in store after the Steelers' Justin Fields and Najee Harris combined to run for 127 yards on the Falcons on Sunday.
There's also this to note: So far in the Jalen Hurts/Nick Sirianni era of the Eagles, whenever they've gotten a Kirk Cousins quarterbacked team as an opponent in a primetime game, they've crushed them – see Week 2 of 2022 and 2023.
MORE: A film review of Mekhi Becton's encouraging debut vs. the Packers
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