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Sicko Summer: Eagles are a Touchdown Underdog in Preseason Opener

Joe Tansey

By Joe Tansey

Published:

Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Football is back! (Well kinda)

The Eagles open the preseason on Thursday at home against Cincinnati, but they’re a 6.5-point underdog at bet365.

None of the Eagles’ important players are expected to touch the field at Lincoln Financial Field. Expect a heavy dose of Tanner McKee, A.J. Dillon, and the rest of the backups.

The spread is what it is because the Bengals committed to playing their starters, including Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.

Cincinnati is employing this strategy partly because they’re 1-5 in Week 1 under Zac Taylor and are traditionally poor starters. It actually makes sense from their point of view, and with that in mind, there are some angles to play on Thursday night.

The Bengals are -185 on the first quarter money line and a 6-point favorite on the first half spread. Assuming Burrow, Chase and Co. are playing more than one series, there’s an opportunity to take advantage of a decent line.

I get it, betting against the Eagles is frowned upon, but there’s such a significant talent mismatch (with all due respect to McKee) that at least the first quarter line makes sense from the betting perspective.

Eagles preseason games as a whole haven’t been particularly entertaining lately. All of the last six preseason contests in 2023 and 2024 featured 40 or fewer points. A year ago, none of the three Eagles preseason contests reached the 30-point mark.

Thursday’s over/under sits at 37 at BetMGM, and while yes the Bengals are playing their starters, you have to keep in mind that the Birds are still playing reserves. One or two slow drives from the Bengals and POOF, the over is out of sight.

BetMGM does have an Any Sport No Sweat Token available, so if you’re really inclined, you can play the trends and go with the Under and either the Bengals first quarter or first half money line.

If preseason football isn’t your thing, well, you can get back to arguing about Max Kepler and Harrison Bader tomorrow. Or, better yet, try one of our PA casino bonuses.

Some options:

Joe Tansey
Joe Tansey

Joe Tansey writes sports betting posts for Crossing Broad and also covers the Philadelphia Union for his Substack site, Union Soccer Blog.

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