Weighing the odds.
Steve Maltepes, known as “The Philly Godfather,” will impart his gambling wisdom on the Eagles and where the smart money is going on various pro football games each weekend this season. Maltepes is one of the nation’s hottest sports betting experts who appears weekly on national radio and has his own website, www.thephillygodfather.com [thephillygodfather.com].
Philadelphia Eagles (1-1) at New Orleans Saints (2-0), 1 p.m. Sunday
The Line: Saints minus-2.5/Total: 48.5
What is the line telling you:
This line originally opened for a banged-up Eagles team as being 1.5-point road favorites, with a combined total set at 49.5. Since then, the price on this matchup has flipped, with the Saints now being 2.5 to 3-point favorites, and gone down to 48.5, depending on what sports book you use. The early public action, in Vegas and offshore is all over this red-hot New Orleans Saints team. Their average margin of victory is 31 points. But they did play the Panthers and the Cowboys. What hurts the Eagles and their fans is that All-Pro wide receiver A.J. Brown will not be making the trip. Everyone knows the Philly offense is not the same without him. With that said, this is a week-to-week league, and anytime you are with the majority, you have to reflect back. At the start of the season, the Saints’ expected win total was set at 7.5, and the Eagles were at 10.5. When you dig a little deeper, you realize the Saints beat a Panthers team that was not expected to win four games this season, and a Dallas team that was coming off a physical game against one of the better defenses in the league in Cleveland. The Cowboys were also supposed to regress this season, with an expected record slightly over .500. The Eagles are fortunate to start the season 1-1, with the turnovers and coaching mistakes that they have made.
Bottom line:
The Eagles are the better team. We like the Eagles plus-3 or better. Three is a key number. Look for sports books that have the Eagles as 3-point underdogs. The Eagles are in a buy-low spot. The Saints will come down to earth this week.
Prop bets for the game
Jalen Hurts anytime touchdown plus-130
Chris Olave anytime touchdown plus-130
DeVonta Smith anytime touchdown minus-120
Both quarterbacks to have over 225 yards passing
OTHER FOOTBALL BETS
We like Oklahoma State (3-0) plus-3 and on the moneyline against Utah (3-0), 4 p.m. Saturday
Baltimore Ravens (0-2) at Dallas Cowboys (1-1), 4:25 p.m. Sunday
The Line: Cowboys minus-1/Total: 48.5
What is the line telling you:
After starting 0-2, the Ravens are playing for their season in Dallas. They lost to Kansas City and had a horrible fourth quarter against the Raiders. If Baltimore loses this game, teams in the NFL that start their season 0-3 miss the playoffs close to 80-percent of the time. Everyone knows that. This is a huge game for Baltimore.
Bottom line:
The Ravens are the better team. We like them on the moneyline or plus-1. Dallas loses this game at home.
(Betting lines via FanDuel are subject to change.)
