Despite back-to-back losses, the Philadelphia Eagles are a half-game ahead in the NFC East and in contention for the conference’s top playoff seed.
With four consecutive defeats, the Seattle Seahawks have gone from atop the NFC West to needing to make up ground for a wild-card playoff berth.
So plenty will be on the line when the Eagles (10-3) visit the Seahawks (6-7) in the first NFL game to be flexed to Monday night.
QUICK PICK
With the status of both quarterbacks going down to the wire, this has been a difficult game to gauge with much certainty. While the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts (illness) may try to play after traveling separately from the team, the Seahawks’ Geno Smith could miss a second straight game due to a groin injury. Seattle is spiraling out of the playoff picture and even if Hurts isn’t cleared to play, backup Marcus Mariota won in Seattle with Atlanta just last season.
Prediction: Eagles 27, Seahawks 23
TRENDING
The Eagles opened as 3.5-point favorites at BetMGM, where the line has shifted only slightly to 3.0 despite the quarterback uncertainty on both sides. Philadelphia has been backed by 79 percent of the spread-line bets and 75 percent of the money. The Eagles’ -165 moneyline has also been popular, drawing 67 and 80 percent of the action, respectively.
The public has been more split on the 47.5-point Over/Under, which has held steady. The Over has been backed by 55 percent of the bets and 56 percent of the money.
PROP PICK
Seahawks WR DK Metcalf Anytime TD (+145 at DraftKings): This has been the most popular Anytime TD prop at the sportsbook, in part due to the absence of Eagles cornerback Darius Slay. Metcalf has a modest seven touchdowns on the season, but four of them have come in the past two games and he has five in his past four as offensive coordinator Shane Waldon has attempted to get him involved early.
THE NEWS
The schedule over the past month has been difficult for both teams.
The Eagles defeated Kansas City and Buffalo, then lost to San Francisco and Dallas, allowing the host Cowboys to pull into a first-place tie in the division with a 33-13 victory last week. Dallas has since lost to Buffalo to move to 10-4.
“We’ve played a lot of high-profile games here before and executed well. I don’t think it is the magnitude,” Eagles center Jason Kelce said after his team lost three fumbles to Dallas. “These are good teams, and you can’t make mistakes against good teams. We’ve done far too much of that.”
The Eagles have games against Seattle and Arizona and two against the New York Giants remaining.
“You can’t even look that far ahead,” Eagles receiver A.J. Brown said. “We play Seattle (this) week. That’s the only thing we need to worry about.”
The Seahawks have lost twice in the past three weeks to the division-leading 49ers, including 28-16 last Sunday in Santa Clara, Calif., as Drew Lock started in place of the injured Smith (groin).
“It’s a challenge at this point of the season to see if we can make it through (to the playoffs),” coach Pete Carroll said. “The fourth quarter of this season is still there for us, and we’ll see if we can. I believe these guys are going to bounce back and be ready to go again. We’ve got to get back on track.”
INJURY REPORT
Slay is out following a knee procedure, as is Eagles linebacker Zach Cunningham (knee) and offensive lineman Cameron Jurgens (pectoral). Hurts was officially designated as questionable.
Smith returned to practice in a limited capacity Thursday but is questionable to play. Seattle safety Jamal Adams (knee), linebacker Nick Bellore (knee), cornerback Devon Witherspoon (hip) and wide receiver D’Wayne Eskridge (ribs) are all questionable after not practicing this week. Linebacker Jordyn Brooks (ankle) was removed from the injury report Saturday.
KEY STAT
The Seahawks have lost four consecutive games for the first time since Pete Carroll took over as coach in 2010.
THEY SAID IT
“You don’t win without some type of adversity. That’s just the name of it. We’d love to come out here and be perfect. But perfection is only an illusion.” –Hurts
–Field Level Media
