NFL Football Betting: Philadelphia Eagles at Denver Broncos
Three games in to the NFL season it’s borderline comical to look back on the hysterical bloviating of the mainstream sports media following the Philadelphia Eagles’ opening game win over the Washington Redskins. ESPN’s unctuous Rick Riley chortled that Chip Kelly’s offense was going to ‘revolutionize the NFL’ and other scribes suggested that the Super Bowl was a realistic goal. Two losses later those same pundits are nowhere to be found. Kelly’s offense may or may not revolutionize the NFL but it’s not going to happen this year with the overrated Michael Vick playing behind a porous offensive line. The Eagles’ horrendous defense is another serious issue. Now the 1-2 Eagles go from the frying pan into the fire as they head to Denver to take on the high flying Broncos.
Philadelphia’s defense isn’t any better this and their secondary is particularly weak. That doesn’t bode well against Peyton Manning-who is looking as good as ever. So how good is Manning this year? He’s got a ridiculous 131 quarterback rating with 9 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He’s getting help from running back Knowshon Moreno and the Denver defense is solid as well. Chip Kelly’s gimmicky offense was expected to cause some problems early in the season until opposing defensive coordinators figured it out but no one expected it to happen this quickly. To be sure, much of the problem is due to Michael Vick’s presence at quarterback. The Kelly offense is predicated on good decision making and that’s always been Vick’s biggest liability. The reality about Vick is that he’s never learned how to play the position of NFL quarterback-now he’s an aging quarterback trying to rely on his diminished athleticism. Nick Foles would be a better choice for starting quarterback but he’d still have the porous offensive line, inconsistent running game and terrible defense.
Laying double digits in the NFL is never an easy thing to do but the Broncos should have their way with the Eagles. Manning has looked unstoppable so far this season and we sure don’t expect the pitiful Eagles stop unit to do anything to change that. The Philadelphia strategy is to push the tempo on offense but the more they do that the more touches they give to one of the most efficient quarterbacks in NFL history. It’s going to get ugly.
BET DENVER BRONCOS -11 OVER PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
BET DENVER/PHILADELPHIA OVER 58