Football is back!

Well, kind of.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ preseason schedule begins on Friday with a trip to face the Baltimore Ravens.

You have to be slightly sick in the head to even consider opening Pennsylvania sportsbook apps for NFL preseason games, but I assume if you’ve clicked on this article, you already identify as that type of person.

That’s okay. This is a safe space on the internet to talk about preseason betting.


The Eagles are a slight two-point favorite on Friday night, but if you know anything about preseason betting, which you do if you clicked here, the Ravens are a preseason covering machine.

John Harbaugh is 13-2 against the spread in the first game of preseason as Baltimore head coach.

The Ravens are 29-5 straight up in their last 34 preseason games. They take these games a little too seriously, but hey, it’s a fun stat to point out every time they play in preseason.

It would surprise absolutely no one if a majority of the money is on the Ravens money line. Given the statistics above, it probably wouldn’t be a surprise if the Ravens won the game itself.

The game will be played in ugly conditions. The remnants of Hurricane Debby battered Baltimore all morning, so even if the weather gets a bit better, it will be played on a wet Bermuda grass.

The Eagles are expected to play their starters for one series, according to Jeff McLane at the Inquirer. I don’t blame them because few starters take preseason seriously anymore and no one wants to risk injury in poor conditions.

A heavy dose of Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee is expected, which doesn’t exactly inspire a ton of confidence if you’re an Eagles fan.

Pickett isn’t great and he’ll be facing a team that is familiar with his play from his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I wouldn’t be shocked if Pickett turns the ball over once or twice because Baltimore coaches up its defense on his tendencies in the pocket.

McKee is probably the quarterback to deliver the win, if it happens, for the Eagles. He had at least 140 passing yards in each of the three preseason games in 2023, but the Eagles lost twice and tied Cleveland.

The Eagles have not scored more than 21 points in a preseason game over the last two seasons.

Baltimore went 4-2 in its preseason games over the last two years and scored more than 20 points in five of those six games.

All of those trends could mean something, but they could also be irrelevant statistics because, well, this is preseason football.