The Philadelphia Eagles (4-7) travel to play the New England Patriots (10-1) looking to snap their three-game losing streak. The NFL’s top passer, Tom Brady (3,600 yards, 28 TDs), will be on display in this contest. It starts at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, Dec 6 and can be seen on FOX.
New England dropped one to the Broncos 30-24 last week. Rob Gronkowski had an outstanding performance in the loss, registering six catches for 88 yards and one TD. Tom Brady also had a big day, contributing 280 yards and three TDs through the air. Philadelphia came up short as well, losing big to the Lions 45-14. Vinny Curry led the Philadelphia defense, totaling two tackles and two sacks.
New England is a considerable 13-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 49 points.
Heading into Week 13 of league action, the Patriots are 10-1 Straight Up (SU) and 5-3-3 Against The Spread (ATS). In the past five games, New England is 4-1 SU and 2-2-1 ATS. They average a league-best 32 points per game at home. New England will try controlling the game with its passing attack, which averages a league-best 315.1 yards per game. The Patriots’ defense stand to fare well this week when they face off against Philadelphia’s offense. Teams playing the Patriots at home average a league-worst 15.2 points per game. The New England run defense has played at a high level the past five games. It has given up 81.0 rush yards per game during that span. One of the keys to the game will be if the Eagles can protect the quarterback against New England’s aggressive pass rush. The defense ranks second in the league in sacks with 3.2 per game. The Patriots make it hard on their opponents right from the start, averaging 6.8 points in the first 15 minutes. Look for the Patriots to control the pace on game day. Philadelphia has an average time of possession of 26:24 per game, ranking last in the league.
As for their opponent, the Eagles have a record of 4-7 for both ATS and SU. In the previous five games, Philadelphia has a record of 1-4 for both SU and ATS. The Eagles have a habit of starting the second half strong. They average 7.3 points during the third quarter of road games, ranking third in the NFL. Penalties are typically a rare sight when the Eagles are playing. They average the fourth-fewest penalty yards in the NFL with 52 per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – NE, ATS Winner – NE, O/U – Under
Notes
New England is 2-3-2 ATS in its last 7 games.
New England is 13-1 SU in its last 14 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of New England’s last 7 games at home.
New England is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home.
New England is 16-5-3 ATS in its last 24 games at home.
New England is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Philadelphia.
Philadelphia is 3-1 SU when leading at the half this season. New England is 8-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Philadelphia is only 1-5) SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, yet 3-1 SU when losing the turnover battle.
Philadelphia has drawn an average of 8.5 penalties on opponents this season, but New England is a perfect 4-0 SU when penalized at least eight times in a game.
The New England rushing attack is ranked 29th in the league, while the Philadelphia run defense is ranked 28th. The Eagles’ offensive run game is ranked 13th, compared to the 10th-ranked rush defense of the Patriots.
