Free Week 1 Prediction: Eagles vs Falcons NFL Odds
Looking for Philadelphia Eagles vs. Atlanta Falcons free NFL Week 1 picks & NFL odds? NFL betting sees the Eagles taking on the Falcons on Sunday, September 12th at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta Georgia. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NFL season long including all NFL Week 1 games so stay tuned for more FREE NFL predictions like this Eagles Falcons matchup.
NFL Handicapping: Week 1
(0-0) Philadelphia Eagles vs. Atlanta Falcons (0-0)
Date: Sunday, September 12th
Time: 1:00 PM
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta Georgia
NFL Week 1 ATS Betting Lines: Atlanta -3
NFL Week 1 Moneyline Odds: Philadelphia +145, Atlanta -165
NFL Week 1 NFL Betting Total: O/U 48
The regular season starts for both of these teams against a weak opponent. While neither team should be great this year, one is in a better position to cover the spread in this game.
In 2020, Philadelphia ended up 4-11-1 while Atlanta was 4-12. So essentially the same record and neither look as though they’ll be too much better this year.
Philadelphia Eagles
For the Eagles to have any success this year they need Jalen Hurts (or at least one of their QBs) to show major improvement this year and for DeVonta Smith to have a big impact right out of the gate. With their defense, they really need to see improvement in the secondary which did not perform well at all in 2020.
With their defensive front as the anchor, the Eagles need to stop the run and create pressure up front to ease the load on the secondary.
Although there has been no shortage of rookies who were never able to take the next step in their second year, this has commonly been a spot where quarterbacks show the biggest jump in performance. Hurts should be better this year.
Additionally, I’ll trust the Eagles defensive front to create issues with Atlanta’s offensive game plan of setting up the pass through a successful run game early on. This will create major issues for Atlanta to get anything going on offense.
Atlanta Falcons
For the Falcons to have any success this year, they need their offense to perform better than expected. Based on their game planning, this will be heavily dependent on running the ball successfully to set up Matt Ryan with a limited pass rush and establishing an effective play action.
The issue here is that Ryan has been on a steady decline in performance for years and the Falcons have a lot of inexperience on their offensive line. The loss of Julio Jones makes sense long term, but will no doubt be a big loss in the short term which doesn’t support a Falcons offensive improvement early in the season.
Of course, the additional of Kyle Pitts will soften the blow, but I don’t think we can rely on a rookie TE to compensate for the loss of Jones in his very first NFL game. If their intended game plan falls apart completely, don’t expect to see much success from Atlanta’s offense and it won’t be their defense winning games this year.
NFL Betting Trends:
- Eagles are 2-3 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
- Eagles are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 road games.
- Falcons are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 Week 1 games.
- Underdog is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 meetings.
- The Under is 4-0 in their last 4 meetings.
- The Over is 4-1 in the last 5 ATL games in September.
4* Free NFL Betting Prediction: Philadelphia Eagles +3.5
In early season games between below average teams, the visiting underdog has had a major advantage on both the moneyline and against the spread. This trend is the strongest specifically in Week 1 and in conference games making this an ideal matchup to side with the Eagles +3.5.
Since it’s never a great idea to rely solely on trends and situational spots, the final push to take the Eagles here is banking on a second-year improvement by Jalen Hurts.
If you’re looking for more NFL picks like this Philadelphia Eagles vs. Atlanta Falcons matchup we’ll be providing 4* free NFL predictions on the blog all season long, and check out our Experts for guaranteed premium & free NFL Football picks!
Register here for a FREE NFL Football Betting Account Now for Daily Free Picks & More Special Offers!