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 (2-1) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1), 1 p.m. Sunday
The Line: Eagles minus-2/Total: 43.5
What is the line telling you:
Lane Johnson, DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown did not practice this week and appear out, and the Bucs are all banged up, too. This line originally opened for a banged-up Eagles team as 1-point favorites against Tampa Bay, with a combined total set at 45. Since then, the price on this matchup has gone to the Eagles as 2-point favorites and the total is down to 43.5. Injuries are a big part of this game. The Eagles are decimated by injuries, with the losses of Smith, Brown and Johnson. Even Britain Covey is out, while Tampa Bay is banged up on the defensive side of the ball. This is a tough game to handicap, especially since the Eagles have been a turnover machine all season (the Eagles are No. 31 in the NFL in turnover ratio at minus-4). They got lucky again last week against New Orleans, after turning the ball over twice. Nick Sirianni has not helped this team at all this year. He constantly shoots himself in the foot, and every decision he makes seems like a bad decision. In a game that is essentially a pick’em and you continue to make mistakes like that, it will hurt the Eagles moving forward.
Bottom line:
The wager we like is the under. If we had to pick a side, we would take Tampa Bay. But the under is the play here. If it reaches three, take Tampa Bay. The big warning is look at the Bucs’ most impressive win so far, against Detroit. The Lions almost doubled Tampa’s total yardage. Detroit also had 12 more first downs. The Lions outplayed Tampa Bay, but the Bucs won with the help of Lions’ turnovers. The under here is the bigger play.
Prop bets for the game
Saquon Barkley anytime touchdown minus-135
Mike Evans anytime touchdown plus-135
Dallas Goedert anytime touchdown plus-220
Baker Mayfield under 250 passing yards minus-130
Jalen Hurts under 220 passing yards minus-130
AROUND THE NFL
Jacksonville Jaguars (0-3) at Houston Texans (1-2), 1 p.m. Sunday
The Line: Texans minus-7/Total: 45.5
What is the line telling you:
You have two teams playing each other that are coming off blowout losses by a combined 64 points. Neither team should be laying a touchdown against anyone.
Bottom line:
This is an AFC South divisional game and the entire season is on the line for Jags’ coach Doug Pederson. This game is a coin flip, to be honest, with everyone banged up on both teams, but it is the biggest must-win situation for the Jags in a long time. This is a game the Jags have to win against a really banged up Houston Texan team. We like the Jags plus-7 and we like them on the moneyline, too.
(Betting lines via FanDuel are subject to change.)
