eagles -7 over lions?

[Assani Fisher]

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It is as close to a must win as a game can be this early on. Saints are in a must win to I feel.

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No offense, but I absolutely hate this logic.

Philly and NO were pretty much in "must win" situations last week too, no?

Buffalo is a "must win" this week while NE could easily afford a loss...do you like Buffalo to beat them?



I just feel as if people use this as justification for their picks a lot and I don't think it matters. Its only week 3 of the NFL season- every team is going to be giving it their all. The Eagles are not going to try harder than the Lions to win this game simply because its a "must win" for them.

[bylanta]

obviously applying this logic to a 17 point spread isn't going to be a strong enough point to make people want to say buffalo will win outright cause its a must win, but in a closer matched game it could be enough that one team feels it has its back to the wall to push it over the line. I mean, do you think NE being all sorts of pissed off last week helped them win? I honestly believe NE was the better team, but that without all that off field BS, that game could have been closer. The threat of missing the playoffs in your mind can be a big motivator, just like people questioning the validity of your wins.

[siccjay]

The Eagles look awful. I like the Lions +7 a lot.

[Quagmyer]

F the Eagles. They single handedly screwed me over big time the past 2 weeks

[Jazzy3113]

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It is as close to a must win as a game can be this early on. Saints are in a must win to I feel.

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No offense, but I absolutely hate this logic.

Philly and NO were pretty much in "must win" situations last week too, no?

Buffalo is a "must win" this week while NE could easily afford a loss...do you like Buffalo to beat them?



I just feel as if people use this as justification for their picks a lot and I don't think it matters. Its only week 3 of the NFL season- every team is going to be giving it their all. The Eagles are not going to try harder than the Lions to win this game simply because its a "must win" for them.

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I disagree. I think that the phrase "must win" is applicable and can be used properly. I do not think that the Eagles or the Saints were in must win situations last week. The Eagles were at home on Monday night and coming off a disappointing loss, so I expected them to be fired up but not in desperation mode. The saints lost a game they were supposed to lose and then went on the road against an NFC rival they were expected to win.

Now the Eagles are facing an 0-3 start which could bury them and the Saints could also be 0-3 on a MNF game after making the playoffs a year ago. In football, because they are so few games, every week is magnified. 0-2 is much better than 0-3 in terms of pysche and the media.

I feel that when a competitive team is faced with a must win situation they win more often than not. You mentioned Buffalo is also in a must win. I disagree. They did not have high expectations this year and no one would have been shocked if you said in Week 1 they would be 0-3. Denver, @Pitt and @NWE is a tough schedule, especially for an inexperienced team. They are most definetly not in a must win. In fact, this week I think only PHI and NO could even be considered as having must wins. NYG and STL are the only other 0-2 teams who might have been considered but since they are playing away. Every other team could absorb a loss and not be totally devestated.

[sanmarcosrun1]

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I disagree. I think that the phrase "must win" is applicable and can be used properly. I do not think that the Eagles or the Saints were in must win situations last week. The Eagles were at home on Monday night and coming off a disappointing loss, so I expected them to be fired up but not in desperation mode. The saints lost a game they were supposed to lose and then went on the road against an NFC rival they were expected to win.

Now the Eagles are facing an 0-3 start which could bury them and the Saints could also be 0-3 on a MNF game after making the playoffs a year ago. In football, because they are so few games, every week is magnified. 0-2 is much better than 0-3 in terms of pysche and the media.

I feel that when a competitive team is faced with a must win situation they win more often than not. You mentioned Buffalo is also in a must win. I disagree. They did not have high expectations this year and no one would have been shocked if you said in Week 1 they would be 0-3. Denver, @Pitt and @NWE is a tough schedule, especially for an inexperienced team. They are most definetly not in a must win. In fact, this week I think only PHI and NO could even be considered as having must wins. NYG and STL are the only other 0-2 teams who might have been considered but since they are playing away. Every other team could absorb a loss and not be totally devestated.

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Are you joking? What NFL team is not competitive? 0-2 is a big deal as only 13 teams have made the playoffs after going 0-2. Yes the Eagles were that team once. But this is a league where every game is a "must win". This whole needing to win more this week than another is useless analysis. These are all competitive professional athletes who want to win every single game they play in.

Have you looked at the match-ups at all in this game or just basing everything off the fact they should win because they need to more? The Eagles are beaten up on the defense and offense side of the ball. Mcnabb will not be healthy all year from his knee and there is no telling how bad Westbrook's knee sprain will affect his play coming off a short week. Mcnabb will continue to have accuracy problems throwing the ball due to his knee not being healthy.

Lions getting points is a better play than the Eagles in this game based on Match-ups due to injuries.

[Jazzy3113]

Maybe I am not explaining myself properly. I personally feel that some teams are more competitive than others. When I say competitive, I mean they have veteran leaders, veteran coaching staffs, solid track record of the last few seasons, and most importantly to me is stability. The Eagles, Broncos, Colts and Pats are what I think of. Philly has a solid coach with a proven track record of success. Truth be told, the could have gone to multiple SuperBowls and have been the NFC Easts best team for awhile.

Now, Philly was expected to be a contender and Detroit was not. I feel that this added pressure makes the game a must win type feel in the eyes of the Eagles players. They were embarressed in front of the nation and get to play a weak team at home. I feel that Donovan will never be the player he was pre injury but will still be able to compete, a la McNair.
I also feel that Detroit blows. Two very poor outings were salvaged by playing equally poor opponents. If you saw the Minnesota game you would have no confidence on Detroit either. Their coaching staff does not inspire confidence.
As far as match ups go, I feel the eagles lose only in one main category; their DBs vs Detroit's WRs. Also, Kitna can say what he wants but he was concussed last weekend and I feel that he will be impaired or more vulnerable to a hit.
I like the fact they play at home, they have no wins, and lost at home on MNF.

As to the point of talking about "must wins". I feel emotion is a big part in the nfl. Because there is so much parity emotion can really be a huge factor. Look at Randy Moss's play last season vs this. He cares. I think the Eagles will care more than the lions.

This is obviously a shaky game so the best play I think would be a small unit bet on Eagles or a tease the other way.

[Patton4]

Kitna (besides the bonehead pick in the redzone) was surgical against the Vikings. I think Philly's secondary, at best, is a notch or two below Minnesota's D, especially with the injuries. Kitna and co. will put up enough points to cover, while more than likely winning this game outright.

Whether people want to believe it or not, the Lions are for real. We are just lucky enough that the oddsmakers are gonna be a week late on figuring this out.

[Patton4]

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I also feel that Detroit blows. Two very poor outings were salvaged by playing equally poor opponents. If you saw the Minnesota game you would have no confidence on Detroit either. Their coaching staff does not inspire confidence.
As far as match ups go, I feel the eagles lose only in one main category; their DBs vs Detroit's WRs. Also, Kitna can say what he wants but he was concussed last weekend and I feel that he will be impaired or more vulnerable to a hit.

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You did not see the same game I did. Or maybe you mistook Kitna for his backup. I'm not sure how you can come to this conclusion.


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I like the fact they play at home, they have no wins, and lost at home on MNF.

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This made me laugh pretty good. You will have a very short sports betting career following this type of "emotional" info.

[MacGuyV]

I really don't see how anyone who has followed football closely for several years doesn't buy into the "desperation" angle at least a little bit.