Minnesota Vikings @ Philadelphia Eagles(-6.5)
DK -105
FD -102
NFL Best Bet Season Record: 4-2
We have one game played for each NFL team in the books and frankly, one game is rarely ever enough to overreact to, especially one in September. So what we're going off of are historical trends and roster construction.
Dating back to the beginning of TNF in 2012, the Philadelphia Eagles are 6-3 at home ATS. That's a great start for a Best Bet. Last season, the Eagles and Vikings faced in on Philadelphia and the Eagles won very soundly, going up 24-7 at the half and the score remaining that way the rest of the game. The story of this game will be the matchup on the interior and if Minnesota can out scheme Philly's clear personnel advantage in the trenches.
Minnesota's biggest weakness on offense is their lack of depth and quality in the interior offensive line. While the Christian Darrisaw and especially Brian O'Neill are great bookends for the offensive line, the interior group of Ezra Cleveland, Austin Schlottman, and Ed Ingram struggled mightily against Tampa. Now they face a massive step up in quality. Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick on the EDGE are already a handful for tackles so Darrisaw and O'Neill will be on islands against them. Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Fletcher Cox are a hellish rotation of Interior Defensive Lineman for a good offensive line to face, let alone one that's below average. Jalen Carter in his first game in the NFL racked up 8 pressures and a Sack. Jordan Davis from the NT position had 2 solo tackles, assisted on 3, forced a fumble, had a TFL, racked up a sack and 2 pressures. It's a ton to handle and few teams are capable of it.
On the other side of the ball, Brian Flores will have the Vikings playing better ball schematically, but the personnel just isn't what he's been used to having at his disposal between his stints in New England, Miami, and Pittsburgh. In New England especially, this would be the perfect spot for man across the board and cover 0's and all sorts if wily tricks having a high caliber secondary allows for. The Vikings just don't have the personnel to handle AJ Brown and Devonta Smith, frankly only the Patriots might. The Eagles entire offensive unit will show to be better in all aspects since they aren't going up against a defense that can handle them at the point of attack in the run game, handle two star receivers, and completely erase a pro-bowl caliber tight end. I think we can expect a better performance from the 2022 NFC Champions tonight.
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