What an interesting start to the season it has been for teams in the NFC East.

The 2-4 Dallas Cowboys sit atop the division and the Philadelphia Eagles are a half game back, while the New York Giants and Washington Football Team are just one game back at 1-5.

Tonight, the Eagles and Giants look to crawl closer to .500 and somehow inch closer to a home playoff game… 2020 strikes again.

Watch the game LIVE at 7:30PM ET / 4:30PM PT on TSN1, TSN4, TSN5 and TSN Direct.

Let’s not waste any more time and get going on what is sure to be a thrilling football game.

New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

Line: Philadelphia -4.5

Total: 45

 

Reason for Optimism?

 

2020 has been anything but ideal for this Philadelphia Eagles team.

Carson Wentz has struggled and currently has careers lows in completion percentage, and QBR, while also having the highest interception percentage of his career.

Add that to a slew of injuries on both sides of the ball and you have a recipe for disaster.

"How would you describe this season so far?" I texted a lifelong Eagles fan.

"Hopeless or demoralizing," he wrote. However, he added this, "Also weirdly optimistic, because we're probably getting a home playoff game."

Seven weeks into the season and this 1-5-1 team has hopes for a home playoff game?

Believe it.

The Eagles have a 54 per cent chance to win the division with a 6-9-1 record, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index projection model.

You can still get them at +135 to win the NFC East, with the Cowboys leading at +125

Philadelphia will be without tight end Zach Ertz and running back Miles Sanders as both players were injured in Week 6.

So where does the production come from now?

With Sanders down, you can expect Boston Scott to get a bulk of the work in the backfield for the Eagles.

The 25-year-old hasn’t played much in his three-year NFL career, but rushed for 113 yards and caught 10 passes for 153 yards against the Giants in two starts against them in 2019.

Scott enters the game with an over / under set at 77.5 rushing + receiving yards and is -115 to find the endzone.

With Ertz and Sanders on their way out, wideout DeSean Jackson and right tackle Lane Johnson are set to return to the lineup. Jackson’s speed gives Wentz a legit deep threat, while Johnson might be able to provide some much-needed time in the pocket.

Wentz has had an up and down career, but one thing has been consistent, he beats the Giants. The 27-year-old holds a 6-1 record over New York in his career, and averages 303 passing yards per game.

He enters the game with an over / under of 245.5 passing yards - it’s a number he has surpassed four times against the G-men.

 

New York, New York

 

Oh boy, the New York football Giants. Where do we begin?

When Saquon Barkley went down with a torn ACL, the team brought in former Atlanta Falcons bellcow, Devonta Freeman.

The addition of Freeman looks like a solid one as he has carried the ball at least 17 times in back-to-back weeks and has reached the 60-yard mark in both games, something no other Giants’ ballcarrier has done this year.

The 28-year-old enters the game with an over / under of 53.5 rushing yards.

If recent weeks are any indication of his workload for the evening, he should have a good chance at flying past that number against an Eagles defence that ranks 20th in yards allowed on the ground.

In the passing game, second-year quarterback Daniel Jones hasn’t been very good.

After having 12 interceptions and 11 lost fumbles in 13 games during the 2019 season. The turnover bug has followed him to 2020.

Jones has thrown at least one interception in five of his six games this season and is a remarkable -185 to throw one tonight.

The 23-year-old also carries an over / under of 231.5 passing yards.

In his only 2019 start against the Eagles, Jones tossed for 301 yards, a touchdown and, you guessed it, an interception.

The Line

Philadelphia enters the game as a four-and-a-half point favourite.

The Eagles are just 2-4 against the spread this season, while the Giants are 3-3.

Philadelphia will be looking to cover the spread as a favourite for the first time in 2020, and New York will look to improve to 4-2 on the season ATS as an underdog.

And despite being 6-1 against New York in his career, Wentz is just 3-4 at covering the spread against New York.

I like the Eagles to win, but I like New York to keep it close.

Pick: Eagles

Picks ATS: Giants +4.5