Could Philadelphia actually pull off an easy win for once?!
Despite not looking very competitive the last time they played a football game, the Philadelphia Eagles are heavily favored to win in Week 6.
The Birds are currently 8.5-point home favorites against the Cleveland Browns, according to FanDuel. They’re the biggest Week 6 favorites in the entire NFL, with the Houston Texans second as seven-point road favorites against the New England Patriots.
Of course, this week’s line might be much more of an indictment of the Browns being pretty bad than it is a testament to the Eagles being any good.
Here’s a snapshot of the Browns’ resume thus far:
- Week 1 vs. Dallas Cowboys: 33 to 17, LOSS
- Week 2 at Jacksonville Jaguars: 18 to 13, WIN
- Week 3 vs. New York Giants: 21 to 15, LOSS
- Week 4 at Las Vegas Raiders: 20 to 16, LOSS
- Week 5 at Washington Commanders: 34 to 14, LOSS
As you can see, the Browns’ sole win came over a Jags team that’s arguably the worst in the NFL. And Cleveland actually got out-gained in that game.
The Browns are scoring just 15.8 points per game. The only two teams that rank below them: the aforementioned Patriots and the Miami Dolphins.
A big reason why the offense doesn’t work? Deshaun Watson looks flat out unplayable. He ranks 31st out of 31 qualified quarterbacks in QBR. He’s accounted for just five touchdowns while turning the ball over six times. There have been calls to bench Watson in favor of Jameis Winston, though Kevin Stefanski’s public comments indicate no QB change is coming just yet.
If the Eagles’ defense can’t stop Watson, well, it’s going to be pretty impossible to have any hope for that unit.
When it comes to the Eagles offense, they’re going up against one of the NFL’s best defensive coordinators in old friend Jim Schwartz. The Browns’ defense was absolutely elite last year but they’ve taken a step back this season. That’s to be expected since defensive performance isn’t always sticky year-to-year and a moribund offense isn’t exactly putting them in good positions. Their defense appears to be more average now, ranking tied for 18th in opponent offensive points per game.
With A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Lane Johnson all potentially back for this game, there’s potential for the offense to get back on track. Jalen Hurts should be expected to look much better than he did in Week 4.
The same goes for the rest of the team, which should be well-rested coming off of their bye week. Meanwhile, the Browns are playing their third straight road game, which typically does not go well for the traveling side.
On paper, the Eagles should be able to beat this Browns team comfortably. The problem with predicting that the Birds will win by more than one score is that it’s something they haven’t done in nearly an entire year now. You’d have to go back to when they beat the Miami Dolphins by 14 points on October 22, 2023.
Are you willing to give the Eagles the benefit of the doubt? Or do you need to see it to believe it?
What say you?
