Washington Football Team (6-9 9-6 ATS) at Philadelphia Eagles (4-10-1 5-10 ATS)
Washington is in desperate need of a win in the season finale heading to the City of Brotherly Love to face the Eagles. Washington is a 1.5-point favorite in this NFC East matchup with the total sitting at 43.5.
The public has backed Washington in this game, as they opened as a 4-point dog but as of Thursday are a 1.5-point favorite.
Haskins Cut
It is easy for Washington in that if they win this game they will win the NFC East. If they lose the winner of the Cowboys vs. Giants game will win the division.
Washington blew a golden opportunity to win the division in their last game where Dwayne Haskins was terrible. That coupled with the fact of off-the-field issues prompted Washington to cut the 2019 first-round pick early this week.
The Eagles are out of the playoff race and they have lost two in a row and six of their last seven games.
The team has seen some flashes with Jalen Hurts taking over at QB but the team has some major decisions in the off-season with the boatload of money still owed to Carson Wentz, who had a less than stellar season, to say the least.
Washington has lost two in a row since winning four straight. The defense has been pretty good but with Alex Smith injured the offense has sputtered.
If Smith cannot go this Sunday Taylor Heinicke will get the start and he was signed to the practice squad only a month ago.
In the first game of the season, these teams met with Washington beating Philly 27-17 behind eight sacks.
Chase Young and the front line defense has been solid this season and they need to play great if the offense continues to struggle. If they do not the Football Team will be watching the playoffs from home.
While Washington is only 2-5 ATS in their last seven games facing the Eagles they are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games facing them in Philadelphia.
Turnovers are Killer
In Washington’s last game they were t home and lost to the Carolina Panthers 20-13 committing four turnovers. Haskins turned the ball over three times in the game where the Football Team outgained Carolina 386 yards to 280 yards.
Taylor Heinicke came in late in the Carolina loss and looked pretty good going 12-19 for 137 yards with a TD and no INT. He has some good targets with the likes of WR J.D. McKissic and TE Logan Thomas and the fourth-year QB from Old Dominion has a lot of pressure on him in his first career start.
Washington ran the ball well at the beginning of the Carolina game but then had to go to the air once down. They need to establish the run in this game with Antonio Gibson, who rushed for 61 yards on 10 carries in the last game.
Heinicke will face an Eagles defense that has struggled against the pass and the run this season and gave up a whopping 513 yards in the last game.
Playing Spoiler
While the Eagles are out of the playoffs they would like nothing better than to kill Washington’s playoff hopes with a home win.
In Philly’s last game they lost to the Dallas Cowboys 37-17 where they gave up a ton of yards. While they gained 477 yards they had three turnovers.
Hurts passed for 342 yards in the loss to Dallas with a TD but had two picks and was sacked three times. He was sacked six times in his previous game and the Philly offensive line has a tall task in this game keeping Chase Young and the great Washington front line D out of the backfield.
Hurts led the Eagles in the Dallas game with 69 rushing yards and Miles Sanders had 57 yards averaging 3.8 yards per carry.
Washington did play soild D up front in the loss to Carolina but gave up key plays down the field, which they cannot do in this do-or-die game.
Prediction
Washington has covered the spread in five of their last six games, overall, and in four of their last five road games. However, Philly has covered in four of their last five home games.
Heinicke played pretty well in the last game and I see him playing well in this game. The Washington defense is the key to this game and they will come out and not totally bottle Hurts up but keep him from making many big plays, which killed the Football Team in the loss to Carolina. I see a close one here but Washington will get the W and cover and win the NFC East in the process.
PICK: Washington -1.5