Falcons vs. Eagles Same Game Parlay Picks and Predictions for Today

by Joe Cistaro (joeycis) Last Updated 2024-09-16 13:25:57

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The second week of the NFL season is nearly complete. On Monday night, the battle of the birds will take place, as the Falcons travel to Philadelphia to play the Eagles. Philadelphia took care of business in Week 1, while the Falcons struggled against a stalwart Pittsburgh defense. DraftKings Sportsbook favors the home side by nearly a touchdown. Let’s break down the game and build a same game parlay for Monday Night Football.

Falcons vs. Eagles Same Game Parlay Preview

At the time of this writing, the Eagles are 5.5-point favorites at home on DraftKings Sportsbook. The game total is 46 points with a bit of juice towards the under. ScoresAndOdds has the action on the spread pretty even with respect to tickets, yet almost 70% of the betting handle has fallen on the Eagles’ side of the spread. The majority of tickets and money bet the under throughout the week. Opening at 48 points, the action and a key injury have lowered the line.

The key injury is A.J. Brown. Brown will not play in Week 2 with a hamstring injury. The Eagles will feature DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert and likely lean on Saquon Barkley even more in Brown’s absence. Barkley scored 3 touchdowns in Week 1 against the Packers and is poised to be a top back in this matchup. For Atlanta, the only injury concern is right tackle Kaleb McGary, who played through a groin injury in Week 1.

The main concern for the Falcons was a brutal passing game. Kirk Cousins looked like a statue behind a line that struggled to protect him against the vaunted Steelers’ front. The Philadelphia defensive line is not as dominant as Pittsburgh’s but will still put pressure on Cousins. Ray-Ray McCloud III surprisingly led the Falcons in targets (7), while Kyle Pitts, Darnell Mooney, and Drake London were offered 3 apiece. The Falcons leaned on Bijan Robinson. Robinson finished with 18 rushing attempts and 5 catches. The typically strong Eagles rush defense struggled in 2023. We should expect Atlanta to lean on their star back early and often.

Philadelphia has 9 targets to divvy up on Monday night with Brown ruled out. DeVonta Smith saw 8 targets out of the slot and looks ready for a big season in the Kellen Moore offense. Keenan Allen thrived out of the slot with the Chargers in this offense, and Smith saw a bulk of snaps inside in Week 1. Without Brown, Smith will be the main target in the passing game. That said, Saquon Barkley is likely going to receive superstar treatment until he shows otherwise. The resurgence began with a great debut in Brazil. We could see both sets of birds fly with superstar running backs on Monday night.

The Falcons saw 20 carries from Najee Harris and 14 from Justin Fields in Week 1. Saquon is considerably more explosive than Harris, and Jalen Hurts commands far more respect with his arm than Fields. If the Eagles deploy a similar approach, we might witness a very quick game on Monday night. With both teams running the football repeatedly, the clock could bleed dry before the teams can make a run at the over on tonight’s total.

With Kirk Cousins getting the rust off, the Falcons might choose a more conservative approach. That said, the Eagles’ secondary allowed the 3rd-most passing yards per game in 2023. Typically, Philadelphia has sold out to stop the run and force the opponent’s hand. The Falcons might be forced to throw the ball more frequently and will need to come up with a solution for protection issues for their quarterback. This could lead to bigger games from Drake London and Kyle Pitts, two players believed to be breakout candidates in 2024.

Let’s consider some NFL props for tonight’s same game parlay.

Same Game Parlay Picks for Falcons vs. Eagles

Jalen Hurts Anytime Touchdown Scorer
DeVonta Smith Over 73.5 Receiving Yards
Drake London Over 56.5 Receiving Yards

Jalen Hurts Anytime Touchdown Scorer

Saquon Barkley scored 3 touchdowns against the Packers in Brazil last Friday night. Barkley’s touchdown prop is priced at -185 on DraftKings Sportsbook. Jalen Hurts, who was perpetually an expensive touchdown proposition, is now priced at -105.

While I think Barkley is going to siphon touchdowns away from Hurts throughout the season, I still think Hurts is going to get his fair share of looks with the quarterback sneak. The presence of Barkley is also going to open up more lanes for Hurts in the RPO (run-pass option) game in the red zone. Defenses are going to quake with fear as they try to sort out what to do when the Eagles near the goal line.

For tonight, I am going to take advantage of a better price for Hurts to start our parlay.

DeVonta Smith Over 73.5 Receiving Yards

This leg feels preloaded this evening and will likely move up throughout the day. As people are reading about tonight’s game and realize that A.J. Brown will miss the action, look for higher volumes of bets and money being thrown at Smith’s over. Smith was able to breach this number with Brown on the field. If we give him a few extra targets, this could be threatened in the 1st half.

Before the season started, we read plenty of coach-speak about Smith spending more time in the slot. The Kellen Moore slot receiver has been a great fantasy asset, and it seems that the scuttlebutt before the season was true for at least one week. Smith was already a strong fantasy plan before the new offensive scheme and looks likely to become a target monster when Brown can’t go.

Book the over.

Drake London Over 56.5 Receiving Yards

Lastly, London disappointed fantasy players all over the country last week with a paltry 3-target game. Pittsburgh disrupted everything the Falcons wanted to do outside of giving Bijan Robinson the football.

The Eagles are far more generous to passers. London should find more room, and Kirk Cousins will have more time. Cousins should gain more confidence as the season progresses. I want to consider the first week an anomaly, as the Pittsburgh defense was one of the worst matchups for a quarterback looking to get back into football form.

Cousins will complete more passes and likely look to find his big-bodied receiver. I want to jump on this line before we see big increases in weeks to come.