Struggling Eagles still open as favorites over Tampa Bay

Somewhat surprisingly, the Eagles opened as favorites for their wild-card game against Tampa Bay next weekend. That line likely will move throughout the week as the action comes in. But the light point spread is just another indication of their late-season nosedive that cost them the NFC’s No. 1 seed.

“Right now, with injuries, we are looking at Eagles -1.5,” said Ed Salmons, vice president of risk management for the Westgate hotel’s SuperBook in Las Vegas.

Other books, such as the Borgata, opened the Eagles -2. The Atlantic City sportsbook opened the over/under at 44.5.

When the Eagles played at Tampa Bay in Week 3, they opened as 6.5-point favorites and beat the Bucs, 25-11. But that feels like a million years ago.

Philadelphia closed the season losing five of the final six games when they gave up an average of 30.3 points per contest. They also absorbed a handful of injuries on Sunday, most notably wide receiver A.J. Brown, who suffered a knee injury in the first quarter of their dismal loss to the Giants.

NFC East result

The Eagles (11-6) losing the division marks the 19th consecutive year that the NFC East champion failed to repeat. There was heavy action on the Birds to defend their crown with wagers coming in the preseason and throughout the season.

The Eagles were -120 in the preseason and surged all the way to -1200 to win the East when they entered December at 10-1, the best record in the NFL. Dallas was available at +600 at that time at MGM.

“We will go from being a loser on the Eagles to a nice win on the Cowboys,” Tom Gable, head of the Borgata sportsbook in Atlantic City, said prior to Week 18. “If Dallas wins on Sunday, of course.”

And they did. The Cowboys (12-5) rolled Washington, 38-10.

Bad beat for A.J. bettors

A.J. Brown’s injury cemented a bad beat for the bettors who took the over for the number of touchdowns he would score this season.

His over/under at the beginning of the season was 7.5 touchdowns. He finished with seven, after failing to find the end zone in any of the final six games. It’s the longest drought of his five-year career.

And finally…

Jacksonville’s loss to Tennessee broke up a remarkable parlay placed well before the football season.

A bettor had Brooks Koepka to win the PGA Championship (10-1 odds), Denver to win the NBA Championship (-115), Vegas to win the Stanley Cup (+175), the Lions, (+130), Chiefs (-165) and Niners (-150) to win their divisions. The last leg was the Jaguars to win the AFC South.

It was a $500 wager that would have paid more than $290,000. Sports betting writer Ben Fawkes first reported the play, which was made at DraftKings.

Hopefully, the bettor hedged before the Jags were surprised by Tennessee, which entered the game 5-11.