The Washington Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles clash in an NFC East battle on Tuesday night, following the postponement of Week 15's originally scheduled Sunday contest.
Both teams are sitting on 6-7 records and have a glimmer of hope of reaching the playoffs. This divisional game is always feisty and should be even more competitive with their seasons hanging in the balance.
Check out our NFL picks and predictions for Washington vs. Philadelphia and find out where we're leaning in the biggest game of the year for both sides.
Washington vs Eagles odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
The total for this NFC East contest has dropped from 44 to 42. There has been even bigger movement in the spread — with the Eagles shifting from 3.5-point favorites to as high as -12 on Friday after news of Washington's covid outbreak, before settling down to Philadelphia -6.5 by Sunday.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full NFL odds before placing your bets.
Washington vs Eagles predictions
- Prediction: Eagles -6.5 (-110)
- Prediction: Under 42 (-110)
- Best bet: Washington team total Under 17.5 (-115)
Predictions made on 12/21/2021 at 11:00 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Washington vs Eagles game info
• Location: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
• Date: Tuesday, December 21, 2021
• Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
• TV: FOX
Washington at Eagles betting preview
Weather
Monitor gametime conditions with our live NFL weather info and learn how weather impacts NFL betting.
Key injuries
Washington: Taylor Heinicke QB (Out) Kyle Allen QB (Out), Brandon Scherff G (Out), Ricky Seals-Jones TE (Questionable), Wes Schweitzer OL (Out), Troy Apke S (Out), Kendall Fuller CB (Out), Tim Settle DT (Out), J.D. McKissic RB (Out), Curtis Samuel WR (Out), Chase Roullier C (Out), Tyler Larsen C (Out), Chase Young DE (Out).
Eagles: Jalen Hurts QB (Probable), Miles Sanders RB (Probable), Derek Barnett DE (Probable), Steven Nelson CB (Probable), Brandon Graham DE (Out), Landon Dickerson (Out), Isaac Seumalo G (Out), Brandon Brooks G (Out), Andre Dillard OT (Out).
Find our latest NFL injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Under is 14-6 in the Eagles' last 20 home games. Find more NFL betting trends for Washington vs. Eagles.
Washington vs Eagles picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Spread analysis
The Cowboys are 9-4 and sitting comfortably atop the NFC East. They’re three wins clear of both of these squads and neither WFT nor the Eagles will catch them unless something truly crazy happens. The best either of these two teams can aim for is a wildcard spot, which starts with a win in this game.
That’s going to be hard for the Washington Football Team, who are undertaking the short trip to Philadelphia with a roster that’s been devastated by COVID-19. Washington, who was already banged up, has 16 players on the COVID list along with seven assistant coaches. That’s the reason this spread has moved three points from the opening line, even with the extra two days giving several players time to clear protocols.
WFT will still likely be without both starting quarterback Taylor Heinicke and backup Kyle Allen. That means Garrett Gilbert will likely start under center after getting plucked from the Patriots practice squad just last Thursday. Gilbert is familiar with Ron Rivera's system and made his first career start with the Cowboys last season, throwing for 243 yards with a touchdown and an interception against the Steelers.
He'll take snaps behind an offensive line that is down to its third-string center and will be missing two experienced guards. That’s tough for any offense to work with, let alone one that will be facing Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave. Things don't look any better for the WFT on the other side of the ball, with their defense struggling to live up to pre-season expectations and ranking 28th in the league in defensive DVOA.
As for the Eagles, they’re ranked six spots higher than the Football Team in defensive DVOA and have been very stout against the run lately. Although their offense can be inconsistent, they still rank third in the NFL in rush DVOA and lead the league with 160 rushing yards per game. While there are still questions about whether Jalen Hurts is the long-term solution at QB, one thing is for sure: he's extremely dangerous with both his arm and feet.
We can talk about trends or how Washington has improved down the stretch but ultimately it doesn’t matter. With a virus that doesn’t care about your fantasy team and your parlays taking center stage, this isn’t a normal situation. Take the Eagles to cover.
Prediction: Eagles -6.5 (-110)
Over/Under analysis
We’ve seen the Under go 4-0 in the Football Team's past four games following a SU or ATS loss and it’s 7-1 in their last eight games overall. The Under has also landed in 13 of the Eagles' last 16 home games against teams with a losing record.
In addition to those trends, it’s important to remember that this isn’t a typical game with Washington hit hard by COVID. Pushing the game to Tuesday allowed them to get back key defensive linemen like Jonathan Allen, Montez Sweat, Matt Ioannidis, and James-Smith Williams, which should bolster their defense.
However, it also means that four-time Pro Bowl guard Brandon Scherff was placed on the COVID-list joining a laundry list of injured interior linemen. And they'll be protecting a mediocre QB in Gilbert, who joined the team less than a week ago.
Prediction: Under 42 (-110)
Best bet
The deadline for Washington to activate any more players from the COVID-list is 4 p.m. ET — three hours before kickoff — so we're waiting to confirm that Heinicke and Allen will be out before making this play.
We're glad that Rivera has faith in Gilbert... because we don't. There's a reason that he's on his fifth team in the last four years. Sure, he might be familiar with Rivera's system after two years with Carolina in 2017 and 2018 (not so coincidently playing behind Heinicke and Allen) but he won't have any chemistry with his receivers or blockers.
It says a lot that WFT would rather grab a last-minute replacement from another club's practice squad than play its own practice squad passer in Kyle Shurmer, who will likely serve as Gilbert's backup.
Regardless of who is taking snaps at QB, Washington will struggle to throw the ball and will rely on its ground game. While a run-heavy gameplan has been crucial to Washington's recent wins it won't have its usual success against a Philly stop unit that allows the seventh-fewest yards per carry (4.0) and ranks 10th in the league in rush EPA.
The Eagles have been even more dominant against the run lately, holding foes to just 81.8 rushing yards per game on 3.8 ypa over their last six games. Expect them to contain a one-dimensional WFT offense led by a career backup QB who will find it tough to gel with new teammates in front of a loud and rowdy Philly crowd at Lincoln Field.
Pick: WFT Team Total Under 17.5 (-115)
