The Jacksonville Jaguars will travel to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9. Below is our early pick and prediction for the game. Note that all odds are from DraftKings Sportsbook and are current as of October 28, 2024. Stats are from TruMedia unless stated otherwise.
If you’re looking for the full slate of our picks and predictions, head to our Early Week 9 Picks and Predictions.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Philadelphia Eagles (-7.5, 47.5)
The Philadelphia Eagles put to bed many of the concerns swirling around them this season with a comprehensive win over the Bengals. Jalen Hurts was superb, and the offense was a top-five unit this week through Sunday.
The defense wasn’t at its best, but the Bengals’ offense is a pretty good unit, so it was always likely that they would have some success moving the ball.
Here are our QB+ grades through the early slate of games in Week 8 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/JofPNdRk3W
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 27, 2024
The Jaguars have put together a couple of solid weeks offensively, backing up a strong showing in Wembley with a seventh-ranked offensive performance coming out of Sunday. Jacksonville’s defense remains a concern, ranking 30th overall, but they did have another solid week, even if they allowed 30 points.
The Eagles are just a better overall team than the Jaguars. They sit 12th in our PR+ standings, compared to 28th for Jacksonville. Prior to this week, I would have been hesitant to lay a touchdown with Philadelphia, but the performance over Cincinnati was the best yet of the season.
The Eagles have now strung together two promising performances on the road. Take them lying 7.5 or tease them down under a field goal.
Prediction: Eagles 30, Jaguars 17
Pick: Eagles -7.5 or anything under -3 in a teaser
Jaguars at Eagles Game Insights
Jacksonville Jaguars
Team: After winning seven of eight games in the middle of last season, Jacksonville is 3-11 in the 14 games since
QB: Trevor Lawrence’s yards per pressured pass attempt are down 26.6% from a season ago.
Offense: The Jags have won the time of possession battle just once (Week 7 vs. Patriots). Last week was the fourth time they failed to have the ball for even 27 minutes this season.
Defense: Last week, Jacksonville held the Packers out of the end zone on four red zone trips (66.7%, their rate in Weeks 1-7: 21.7%).
Fantasy: Tank Bigsby has looked explosive at times, but he needs help – in three of his past four games, he’s averaged less than two feet per carry before contact.
Betting: The Jags are just 2-5 ATS in their last seven road games, and each of their past four failures to cover came by at least 11.5 points.
Philadelphia Eagles
Team: No offensive line allows pressure more often when not blitzed than the Eagles (44.1%, league average: 31.6%).
QB: The Eagles have won three straight games – in those games, Jalen Hurts has -2 red zone passing yards.
Offense: From 2022-23, only the Cowboys, Chiefs, and 49ers scored more first-quarter points than the Eagles. This season, Philadelphia has yet to score in the first 15 minutes. If you’re curious, their lowest-scoring season for first-quarter points over the past 20 years came in 2012 (31 points).
Defense: The Eagles hadn’t allowed an opponent to convert over 46.2% of their third downs through seven weeks. In Week 8, the Bengals went 10-of-13 (76.9%), though part of that can be attributed to a one-sided game (20-point win).
Fantasy: Jalen Hurts had his 13th game with multiple rushing touchdowns since 2021, the most in the league (Derrick Henry ranks second with 11 and James Conner third with seven over that stretch).
Betting: After Halloween, since 2020, the Eagles are 12-8-1 ATS (60%) at home and 4-16 ATS (20%) on the road. They head on the road for three of their next four after this game.