Philadelphia Eagles vs Washington Football Team Free Pick

Washington Football Team (6-9, 6-8-1 ATS) @ Philadelphia Eagles (4-10-1, 5-10 ATS) FREE PICK

On Sunday night, the 2020 NFL regular season will close. It will mark the end of one of the more interesting seasons in recent history. It’s only fitting that Sunday night’s game would feature a 6-9 Washington with a shot to make the playoffs.

It’s pretty simple for the Football Team. Win and you’re in. Lose, and it’s time to start making offseason plans. Washington could have saved itself beating the Eagles on Sunday night to make the postseason by simply defeating Carolina last week.

That didn’t happen and as a result, the line on this game favored initially favored Philadelphia -1.5 at home. The line has shifted and it is now the Football Team that is the -1.5 favorite at live sports betting odds. Does any of that matter?

Distractions

Washington QB Alex Smith – a favorite to win the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award – suffered a calf injury and was unable to play last week. Head coach Ron Rivera inserted former first-round pick Dwayne Haskins into the lineup against Carolina.

Haskins was awful and he got caught sans mask entertaining himself in a strip club during the week. Haskins record as a Football Team starter? 3-10. The former Ohio State star has thrown more interceptions (14) than touchdowns (12) in his short NFL career. With that in mind, Rivera convinced the Washington front office to get rid of Haskins. The team waived him earlier this week.

Starting QB

Both Washington and Philadelphia have had their quarterback issues in 2020. For the Football Team, it appears that Smith will be ready to start on Sunday night. That’s important because if there is one shining characteristic of Smith it is this – he is a winner. Smith is 10-5 as Washington’s starter. For his career, Smith is 98-67-1.

On the other side, Philadelphia tired of Carson Wentz’s ineptitude during the 2020 season. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson finally pulled the plug and inserted rookie Jalen Hurts into the lineup. Hurts has injected some life into the Philadelphia offense averaging 340 passing yards and 66 more on the ground in the past two games. Wentz didn’t throw for more than 270 in a single game in his 12 starts. Hurts will start again on Sunday night.

Once a Dog…

Washington’s poor performance last week and the uncertainty at quarterback led to the Football Team being a 1.5-point underdog when this game’s line opened. It’s worth noting that the betting public tends to avoid underdogs. They also avoid teams playing on the road and teams that just lost their previous game.

It’s really too bad since road underdogs coming off a loss are 86-63-5 ATS (55.8 percent) since last season. If you were fortunate enough to get in while the Football Team was still listed at +1.5, good for you. For remaining bettors, there is still plenty of time to hop on the Washington train. There are also plenty of reasons why.

Must-Win

Remember, Washington wins the NFC East and gets a playoff berth with a win on Sunday night. A loss means the winner of the Cowboys-Giants game earlier in the day wins the division.

Now, teams needing a win to get into the playoffs in a Week 17 game have struggled against the spread. In such games where the opponent has no incentive, teams facing a must-win in Week 17 are 15-23 ATS. Teams favored by more than a field goal, which Washington is not, have had it even rougher going 9-19 ATS.

Back the Football Team

With Smith, a proven winner, running the offense – and WR Terry McLaurin will be back – Washington wins and covers. Philadelphia’s defense is one of the poorer units in the NFL. The Eagles give up 26.5 points per game (22nd) and 370.8 yards per game (21st). The run defense is awful allowing 127.3 yards per game (24th).

Washington is 5-1 ATS in its last six games. The only game they didn’t cover was last week when Haskins was forced to start. Washington is also 4-1 ATS in their last five games on the road and 4-1 ATS in all of their NFC East games this season.

NFL FREE PICK: WASHINGTON -1.5

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