The New England Patriots host the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, December 6 in a non-conference showdown. The Patriots have won each of their last four meetings with the Eagles, including a 38-20 road win in their most recent showdown in 2011.
New England (10-1, 6-0 home) suffered its first loss of the season last week in overtime by a final of 24-30 against the Denver Broncos. Tom Brady led a game-tying field goal drive in the closing seconds, but the Patriots couldn’t finish it off in overtime.
Philadelphia (4-7, 2-4 away) is coming off its second straight blowout loss. This one came at the hands of the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day by a final of 14-45 on the road. The defense allowed Matthew Stafford to throw five touchdown passes in the loss.
Kickoff inside Gillette Stadium is set for 4:25 EST Sunday afternoon with FOX providing the television coverage. If you are looking to place a bet on this game, you’ll find New England as a 9.5-point favorite over Philadelphia with a total set of 49 points.
Bill Belichick is 42-22 ATS off one or more consecutive losses as the coach of New England. Belichick is also 17-5 ATS off a lost by 6 points or less as the coach of the Patriots. I just trust this team to respond well following a game in which they felt they had won against the Broncos last week. The Patriots will show up with a chip on their shoulder this week, especially since they only lead the Bengals and Broncos now by one game for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
If the Eagles were going to turn it around, they would have done so one of the last two weeks. Instead, they have failed to even show up in back-to-back blowout losses to the Buccaneers (17-45) at home and the Lions (14-45) on the road. They were thoroughly ouplayed in both games. They gave up 521 total yards to the Bucs and were outgained by 138 yards. They gave up 430 total yards to the Lions and were outgained by 203 yards. If they can’t hang with those two teams, they stand no chance against the Patriots.
New England is 6-0 SU & 3-0-3 ATS at home this season. It is outscoring opponents by an average of 16.8 points per game at home as well. I know that the Patriots are banged up right now, but they should get Danny Amendola back. Plus, tight end Scott Chandler has proven he is more than just a decoy out there and can fill in just fine for Rob Gronkowski.
I don’t feel like the Patriots are going to have to put up a big number offensively to cover this number. That’s because their defense is one of the best in the league in giving up just 19.3 points per game, including 15.2 at home. The Eagles have been atrocious offensively of late. They have been held to just 16.7 points per game in their last three. Sam Bradford may return at QB this week, but he isn’t any better than Mark Sanchez. This offense is just lost right now.
New England is 35-15-1 ATS in its last 51 games following a loss. The Patriots are 7-0 ATS off a road loss over the last three years.
The Eagles are 4-16-1 ATS in their last 21 games after allowing more than 350 total yards in their previous game. Philadelphia is 7-17-1 ATS in its last 25 games vs. a team with a winning record. New England is 35-15-1 ATS in its last 51 games following a loss. The Patriots are 7-0 ATS off a road loss over the last three years. New England is 7-0 ATS in its last seven home games vs. poor defensive teams that allow 350 or more yards per game.