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The Eagles vs. Seahawks Sunday Night Football game is balanced enough that the books won’t be seriously impacted regardless of which way this one goes. The line here was coming in at Seattle +5 after opening at +6, just to demonstrate how this Eagles squad is being perceived thus far.
For some perspective here, Seattle has never been a home underdog of between 3.5 to 7 points over the past three seasons. They have only been an underdog on ten occasions in the past three seasons.
Seattle faced Philadelphia last year and in 2014, winning on both occasions.
A win Sunday night, the Eagles will clinch the NFC East. It will also be their 10th straight victory.
Philadelphia would currently pay out $400 for every $100 bet to win Super Bowl 52, Seattle was coming in at 20/1 odds.
Much of the offensive success has to be directly attributed to second-year quarterback Carson Wentz, a legitimate Most Valuable Player candidate, ESPN.com suggests.
"We're obviously pleased with where he's at currently with the growth, but listen, every game is a new game for him and it's a learning experience," Eagles coach Doug Pederson said of Wentz. "I think he can get incrementally better. There's still things that show up on tape where he can make a better decision, playing the quarterback position. He makes a lot of great decisions, don't get me wrong there. But I think he can continue to get better and continue to help this football team win games."
The NFL Betting Power Ratings would have the Eagles as a -3.5 favorite here, but the Power Ratings do not take into account recent injuries.
Seattle will be without key players such as cornerback Richard Sherman (season-ending Achilles injury), strong safety Kam Chancellor (neck) and defensive end Cliff Avril.
"We're really trying to be very respectful of Kam and kind of let him call the shots as far as what is known and all that kind of stuff and how he wants to talk about it because this is him," Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll told ESPN Radio 710 in Seattle. "It's not us, it's him. And we will support him all that we can."
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
