Trace Adams
Thursday's Selection ...
For Thursday, Raise The Bar 1500♦ is the Atlanta Falcons over the Philadelphia Eagles. At 8:30 am eastern time, the Falcons are +1 in most areas in Vegas and offshore.
Update: at 2:15 pm eastern time, the line is now a pick.
Line value has been lost on this for Atlanta backers, as the Falcons opened around a +4 underdog, and as I type my analysis, they are down near a pick to +1 point pup.
I am sure the main reason the price dropped is because it was installed at the time when it looked like Carson Wentz was going to be the starting quarterback for this opening night affair, but Wentz has not yet been cleared for contact, so it will be Nick Foles. We all know how Foles delivered the Eagles to the promised land last February in helping Philly hoist their first Lombardi Trophy ever, and only a fool would doubt he won't deliver again when called upon this season.
I am no fool, but I did watch the Eagles this preseason, and I did not see the same Foles that I saw last season. Teams are now wise to the Philly run/pass option that they had much success with last year. Atlanta will be wise to it. Heck, they held the high-scoring Eagles offense to just 15 points in that bitter 15-10 loss last January in the divisional round, as the Eagles defense was able to hold back Matt Ryan's pass into the end zone in the final minute of play from the red-zone.
Defending Super Bowl champions have opened the following season 13 times at home, and have gone an eye-popping 11-2 straight up in those 13 season openers. One of the losses was back in 2012 when Dallas was able to win at the New York Giants, while the other loss happened just last season when Kansas City used a monster second half to comeback for the outright win at New England.
Atlanta had a pretty dreadful preseason as well, but they also did not use their main offensive cogs in Julio Jones, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. They have added Calvin Ridley to Matt Ryan's arsenal, and as this is a bit of a "homecoming" for Matty Ice who played his high school football out of Philly, I am going to look for the revenge angle to be a strong play angle tonight, and for the Falcons to spring the minor upset.
In this "Battle of the Birds", side with the visiting Falcons tonight.
Thursday's Selection ...
For Thursday, Raise The Bar 1500♦ is the Atlanta Falcons over the Philadelphia Eagles. At 8:30 am eastern time, the Falcons are +1 in most areas in Vegas and offshore.
Update: at 2:15 pm eastern time, the line is now a pick.
Line value has been lost on this for Atlanta backers, as the Falcons opened around a +4 underdog, and as I type my analysis, they are down near a pick to +1 point pup.
I am sure the main reason the price dropped is because it was installed at the time when it looked like Carson Wentz was going to be the starting quarterback for this opening night affair, but Wentz has not yet been cleared for contact, so it will be Nick Foles. We all know how Foles delivered the Eagles to the promised land last February in helping Philly hoist their first Lombardi Trophy ever, and only a fool would doubt he won't deliver again when called upon this season.
I am no fool, but I did watch the Eagles this preseason, and I did not see the same Foles that I saw last season. Teams are now wise to the Philly run/pass option that they had much success with last year. Atlanta will be wise to it. Heck, they held the high-scoring Eagles offense to just 15 points in that bitter 15-10 loss last January in the divisional round, as the Eagles defense was able to hold back Matt Ryan's pass into the end zone in the final minute of play from the red-zone.
Defending Super Bowl champions have opened the following season 13 times at home, and have gone an eye-popping 11-2 straight up in those 13 season openers. One of the losses was back in 2012 when Dallas was able to win at the New York Giants, while the other loss happened just last season when Kansas City used a monster second half to comeback for the outright win at New England.
Atlanta had a pretty dreadful preseason as well, but they also did not use their main offensive cogs in Julio Jones, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. They have added Calvin Ridley to Matt Ryan's arsenal, and as this is a bit of a "homecoming" for Matty Ice who played his high school football out of Philly, I am going to look for the revenge angle to be a strong play angle tonight, and for the Falcons to spring the minor upset.
In this "Battle of the Birds", side with the visiting Falcons tonight.
