The Battle of Pennsylvania approaches.
The Philadelphia Eagles opened as 4.5-point home favorites in their Week 15 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to FanDuel.
This is a “something’s gotta give” matchup.
Barring a tie, one of the following two things will happen:
1) The Eagles will beat Russell Wilson for the first time EVER (0-6 against him).
2) The Steelers will win in Philadelphia for the first time since 1965.
This figures to be a competitive matchup. The Steelers are 10-3 overall and 6-1 with Wilson under center. The sole Wilson loss was a five-point road defeat to the Cleveland Browns in that snowy Thursday night game.
The Steelers have one of the NFL’s better defenses; Pittsburgh is allowing the seventh fewest offensive points per game. They’ve been particularly stout against the run with only three teams allowing fewer rushing yards per game this season. We saw Saquon Barkley have success pounding the rock against the Baltimore Ravens, so, it’s hardly like the Eagles need to abandon the run. But it could be nice for Jalen Hurts and the passing attack to actually get going in this one.
Betting against Mike Tomlin as an underdog typically isn’t wise. The Steelers are 5-0 against the spread and straight up as dogs this season. No NFL team is better against the spread or straight up as underdogs since Tomlin became the Steelers’ head coach in 2007.
I think the Eagles can win. But I don’t trust them to do it comfortably. I’m leaning Steelers +4.5.
What say you?
