Eagles-Vikings: odds, favorite bets and predictions for Monday Night Football
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Eagles will host the Minnesota Vikings in their home opener on Monday night at Lincoln Financial Field. The crowd should be electric at the Linc following the Eagles' Week 1 victory over the Detroit Lions.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts led the Eagles to a win with some clutch runs to extend drives throughout the game. He also hooked up with new wideout A.J. Brown 10 times, which was good for 155 yards.
The new teammates smashed their overs in rushing and receiving yards as a result.
The books have adjusted their lines on Hurts and Brown entering Week 2. Let's take a look at some of my favorite bets and predictions for the game below:
Vikings (+2, -110) at Eagles (-2, -110)
Over/under: 50.5
Sept. 19 at 8:30 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field
Justin Jefferson's receiving yards
Last week, Jefferson went for nine catches, 184 yards and two touchdowns in the Vikings' season opener win against the Green Bay Packers.
At the time of this writing, Jefferson's receiving over/under is set at 97.5 yards.
The Eagles didn't allow any Lions wideouts to eclipse that number last week – and only three wide receivers went over that total last season against Philadelphia – but Jefferson is a different type of player. He should hit the over on that number.
First-year head coach Kevin O'Connell, the former Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator, has Jefferson playing in the Cooper Kupp role in the Vikings' offense.
The LSU product had 11 targets and 70.2% of the Vikings' air yards in Week 1, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. The only wideout that had more in Week 1 was Brown with 72.83%.
Davante Adams ranked in third with a 57.69% share of his team's air yards.
Jefferson should get plenty of opportunities to go over 97.5 yards, especially against defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon's soft defense.
Hammer the over
The over/under for the Eagles-Vikings game currently sits at 50.5 points. It opened at 48 following Philadelphia's win in Week 1 but has since jumped.
Despite the jump, I'm still comfortable playing it at 50.5.
So far in the 2022 NFL season, primetime games have gone under their projected total every time.
But, with two high-powered offenses and susceptible defenses, this game is the one that could break that trend.
Parlay
If you don't enjoy straight bets, here's a parlay to dabble some money on:
+750
- Justin Jefferson over 97.5 receiving yards
- A.J. Brown over 75.5 receiving yards
- Jalen Hurts anytime TD
As I wrote above, I think it's pretty likely Jefferson surpasses his receiving total.
The books have adjusted the total for Brown after his historic performance against the Lions. But, I still expect him to get plenty of targets in this high scoring contest. He'll once again be a huge difference-maker for Hurts and the Eagles' offense in his home debut.
Hurts scored a rushing touchdown last week and carried the ball 17 times. Most of them came off scrambles to avoid the Lions' pass rush, but he'll most likely get plenty of opportunities once the Eagles enter the red zone to punch one in.
Hurts got four attempts inside the 20-yard-line last week, which is tied for third in the league with Joe Mixon, Christian McCaffrey and Kareem Hunt. Two of those four came inside the 5-yard-line.
When the Eagles get into the red zone, Hurts is the Eagles' go-to option. And you can still get pretty solid value on him to boost your parlay.
Prediction
Vikings 31, Eagles 28
Eagles fans won't like this prediction, but I think they lose Monday night in a high-scoring game against the Vikings. Minnesota might be the toughest team they play until much later in the year.
Plus, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has always had the Eagles' number during his career. Cousins is 6-3 against the Eagles with a passer rating of 104.9, 2,756 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in nine games against Philadelphia.
Oh, and he's got Jefferson to continuously deliver the ball to from drive-to-drive.
It'll be an interesting game for Hurts. The Vikings will most likely try to take Brown away after last week. If that happens, will he be able to find other skill players like DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert and Quez Watkins?
We'll find out Monday night in the Eagles' first primetime game of the season.
All odds are courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
