NFL Preseason Picks – Eagles vs. Colts

BetOnline NFL Football Betting Odds: PHILADELPHIA -3, Total 36

Here are some of the NFL pro football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* PHIL has played eight of its last ten pre-season games OVER the total

* PHIL has played four of its last five road pre-season games OVER the total

* PHIL has lost five of its last six road pre-season games SU

* PHIL has covered two of its last six road pre-season games

* IND has lost nine of its last 11 pre-season games SU

* IND has covered three of its last 11 pre-season games

* IND has lost five of its last six pre-season home games SU

* IND has covered one of its last six pre-season home games

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The Philadelphia Eagles went for it in the post-season, making a number of moves to add weapons to its offense. Left tackle Jason Peters came in a trade with Buffalo. Running back LaSean McCoy, who has a big upside, was drafted. So was game-breaking wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. Now they have gone out and signed Michael Vick and will figure out some way for him to play a role in this offense. He will not be in action on Thursday, so the Eagles might not get to try out new things until next time. Donovan McNabb had even indicated that he and Vick might be on the field at the same time at points during the season.

Brian Westbrook will also not see action for the Eagles. In fact, he may not see any action in the entire pre-season. Westbrook, who had ankle surgery in the off-season, doesn’t need any more wear and tear than is absolutely necessary. He’s been practicing, and that’s good enough. They did not really need him in the process of running up 420 yards of offense in the opener against New England, a game where Philadelphia had 26 first downs and possessed the ball for almost 34 minutes.

One of the stars in that game was the guy Vick may ultimately have to battle to get the backup quarterback job – that’s A.J, Feeley, who took advantage of Kevin Kolb’s knee injury to get extra playing time and completed 18 of 24 passes for 211 yards. McNabb added 103, and this looks like a team that is getting itself fine-tuned already for the regular season. McCoy had a 16-yard run and finished with 55 yards on ten carries. He’s hungry because he feels he can almost split time with Westbrook.

In Jim Caldwell’s debut as head coach, the Colts kind of stunk out their own stadium, dropping a 13-3 decision to the Minnesota Vikings, as Curtis Painter got the bulk of the time at quarterback. Donald Brown, the top draft choice, has served notice that he is a guy to watch, as he ran five times for 58 yards and looked very strong. Peyton Manning was working without his starting receivers and got sacked three times, you just know this coaching staff isn’t about to let that happen too much.

If you look at the Colts, they have lost nine of the last 11 in the pre-season, and frankly, I don’t think the organization cares about this period in the process. Jim Irsay made that relatively clear in an interview with the Colts’ broadcast team during the game with Minnesota. We’re laying the points with the Eagles, the three-point road favorite in the BetOnline NFL pre-season football betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: PHILADELPHIA -3 **

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)