San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles NFL Picks & Betting Odds
Written October 10, 2008 by Jason Lowry
This weekend the Philadelphia Eagles will head west to take on the San Francisco 49ers. After barely losing to the Cowboys in week 2 and then beating up on the Steelers the following week it looked like the Eagles were back as a top team in the NFC, but after two straight losses they find themselves at 2-3 looking up at all 3 teams in the tough NFC East. As for the 49ers they too come in at 2-3 after 2 straight losses, and most recently a 21-30 loss to the Patriots. Though both teams are even record wise, the oddsmakers have the Eagles as 4.5 point favorites over the 49ers at Bookmaker.com
The Eagles losing streak hasn’t been helped by the fact that star running back Brian Westbrook has been very limited with a rib and ankle injury, and will actually not play this weekend. So that means Donovan McNabb and the Eagles No. 1 rated passing offense will have to get the job done against one of the best pass defenses in the league. Rookie DeSean Jackson had been lights out all season, before being shutdown for just 1 catch for 8 yards last week against the Redskins. The team does have Reggie Brown back in the mix, who had 4 catches for 84 yards last week. If this team is going to win this weekend, it’s going to need to find a way to move it on the ground without Westbrook.
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The Eagles defense seems to be hit or miss this season, as they have looked great in games like the way the manhandled Pittsburgh, and really bad in others like when they let Dallas put up 41. Last week they did a good job of keeping Jason Campbell in check, but that was made easy by the fact that he really didn’t have to do much with Clinton Portis running the ball 29 times for 145 yards and a score. The Redskins had over 200 yards on the ground, and if they let Gore and company do that this week, it could end up being a long ride home. Bet Eagles -4.5 at Bookmaker.com
The 49ers offense continues to play well, and it looked like they really had something going last week when they had two first quarter touchdowns, but the offense really stalled after that until they were able to put up a late score with the game pretty much over. JT O’Sullivan had 3 touchdown passes, but it wasn’t a very pretty day overall, as he completed just 14/29 passes for just 130 yards with 3 interceptions. The big problem was Frank Gore was unable to get it going and wound up with just 12 carries on the day for 54 yards. With the way Portis ran all over the Eagles last week, there has to be some hope that Gore will have a much better day this weekend.
The 49ers defense really got burnt through the air last week with Matt Cassel throwing for 259 yards, and that is something this defense usually doesn’t let happen. They were able to force 2 interceptions that likely kept the game closer than what it really should have been. The run defense wasn’t very good either, as a slew of Patriots running backs ran with success last week. Linebacker Patrick Willis continues to be a beast for this defense, as he walked away with 18 tackles and a sack last week. If this unit can create some turnovers this weekend there is a real good chance they can keep this one close at home. Bet 49ers +4.5 at Bookmaker.com
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