Sunday Night Football Week 13: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Seattle Seahawks Prediction, Odds

One team has stood out among the rest during the 2017 NFL season. It hasn’t been the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots or the almost defending champion Atlanta Falcons. The 9-2 Pittsburgh Steelers don’t have the league’s best record, nor do the nine-win Minnesota Vikings.

It’s not even the Seattle Seahawks, who have won a playoff game in each of the last five years. The league’s best team has been the Philadelphia Eagles, whom Seattle hosts on “Sunday Night Football.”

Entering Week 13 on a nine-game winning streak, Philadelphia leads the NFL with a 10-1 record. They are a win away from clinching the NFC East, and they almost certainly would still make the playoffs without winning another game during the regular season.

It’s why the Eagles are doing something that no team has ever done since the Seahawks drafted Russell Wilson in 2012. With Philadelphia listed as 5.5-point favorites, according to the betting odds at OddsShark, Seattle hasn’t been this big of a home underdog at any point during the last six seasons.

Sunday will mark the first time in 47 games at CenturyLink Field that the Seahawks aren’t favored. Seattle was last a home underdog when they defeated the New England Patriots on Oct. 14, 2012.

Seattle’s fans are often considered to give the Seahawks the greatest home-field advantage in all of football. Entering the 2017 season, the Seahawks had a winning record at home in each of the last five years. In only one of those years did Seattle go worse than 7-1 while playing in front of the “12s.” Seattle is 3-2 at home this year.

How is Philadelphia favored by nearly a touchdown against a team that’s been that dominant at home and is on pace for another 10-plus win season? The Eagles have simply been that much better than everyone else.

It isn’t just that Philadelphia keeps beating teams. Most of their games haven’t been close, and the Eagles seem to somehow be improving each week.

Seven of Philadelphia’s 10 wins have come by double-digits, including each of their last five victories. With their 31-3 drubbing of the Chicago Bears in Week 12, the Eagles have beaten each of their last four opponents by at least 23 points. Philadelphia has outscored the Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys and Chicago by a combined score of 119-35 in the last three weeks.

Try to find a weakness on the team and you’ll have to get real nitpicky in order to settle on one.

Philadelphia is third in total offense and first in points scored. The Eagles rank sixth in total defense and third in points allowed. Both their offensive line and front-seven are among the best units in the league. The secondary has exceeded all expectations, as have the playmakers—running back Jay Ajayi was added before the trade deadline. Quarterback Carson Wentz is a top-two MVP candidate at worst.

Of course, the Eagles still have their skeptics. Any reluctance to name Philadelphia the clear Super Bowl favorite in the NFC would have to come from the quality of their opponents.

Philadelphia’s road win against the Carolina Panthers is their only victory against a team that currently sits above .500. The Eagles were beaten the only other time they faced a winning team, losing against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2.

Three of the Eagles’ last four wins have come against C.J. Beathard, Brock Osweiler and Mitchell Trubisky. During that stretch, Philadelphia also beat Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys, who scored fewer than 10 points in three straight games.

Winning on the road against some of the NFL’s worst quarterbacks is one thing. Doing it with Russell Wilson starting for the other team should prove to be much more difficult.

Wilson has done his best to keep a Seahawks’ team that is without Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor for the rest of the year in the playoff race. The quarterback is tied for third in both passing yards and touchdowns. He has a 101.3 passer rating in Seattle’s seven wins.

Does that mean the Eagles will finally look pedestrian when they face a legitimate playoff contender on the road? Probably not. Philadelphia had a decisive win in Carolina, and they even won in Washington when a healthy Redskins’ team looked like a wild-card threat.

But don’t expect the Eagles to roll to another victory, either. Winning by six points in Seattle could prove to be difficult, no matter how banged up the Seahawks’ secondary might be. Look for plenty of points to be scored and the final score to surpass the over/under of 47.

Seattle fell just short two weeks ago on “Monday Night Football,” scoring 31 points in a three-point loss to Atlanta. Sunday night’s game could play out in a similar fashion with a late field goal potentially deciding the outcome.

Prediction: Philadelphia over Seattle, 27-26