After a monster prime-time win over the Giants the 3-1 Eagles look to stay alone a top the NFC East. Next up: the Pittsburgh Steelers. Off we go…
ESPN: This might be one of the weirdest matchups of the season. The Eagles are somehow 3-1, the Steelers are somehow 1-2, and not only is Pittsburgh favored in Vegas, most of the experts like them too. With that in mind, it shouldn't be a surprise to learn that six of eight experts at the World Wide Leader like the Steelers, including the ESPN picking robot and the fan vote.
CBSSports.com: Eight of nine experts like Pittsburgh with only PredictionMachine.com (CBSSports.com's version of the picking robot) taking the Eagles. CBSSports.com columnist Pete Prisco explains it thusly: "This is one of the games of the week. The Eagles are coming off a tough division game against the Giants. The Steelers are coming off a bye. And they are getting healthy, which is key. Philadelphia didn't turn it over against the Giants, which was important. It will be here as well. But that's tough to do against a good Steelers defense. I like Pittsburgh now that it is getting healthy. PIT 27 PHI 21."
Yahoo Sports: Mike Silver likes the Eagles, Jason Cole and the Yahoo users are taking the Steelers.
What Vegas is saying: The Steelers are favored by 3.5 points but Vegas generally gives the home team three points for, well, being at home. The over-under is 43 (we love the over) and there's no shortage of ridiculous prop bets to waste your money on. Will either team score in the first 6.5 minutes? Bet here!. Over-under for the longest touchdown of the game: 42.5 yards. And if you think the Eagles will win by 22 points, you can bet $100 to make $1400.
Gabe, my 3-year-old yellow Lab (2-2): I usually label two paper plates "Eagles" and "Opponent," place two identically tasty dog treats on each plate, and let Gabe go at. This week I was short on time so I had a piece of cheese (representing Philly cheese steaks) and a ravioli (standing in for Pittsburgh hallmark pierogies), tossed them on the kitchen floor and waited for Game to make his move. Apparently, my dog loves pierogies. Which I took to mean he's betting heavy on the Steelers.
Me (2-2): Of life's great mysteries, cobbling together a living by betting on sports might be the most impressive. We say this as someone who has spent his life watching ungodly amounts of football and still, from one week to the next, has no idea which team will win. Maybe this says more about us than the randomness of a game that involves an odd-shaped ball and 22 fat guys running full-speed into each other for three hours at a time. Oh, and did we mention that we're Steelers fans (no idea how that slipped or minds till now)? So, yeah, we're going with Pittsburgh over Philly, 27-24.
