Eagles Look to Clinch NFC With Monday Night Win

Week 16 of the NFL regular season concludes Christmas night with Monday Night Football when the Oakland Raiders visit the City of Brotherly Love to take on the Philadelphia Eagles.

The current line has Philadelphia favored by 9 points with the over/under point total sitting on 47. Oakland enters the game with an overall record of 6-8 straight up and 4-8-2 against the spread. On the road, the Raiders are 2-4 SU and 1-4-1 ATS. Philadelphia this season is 12-2 SU and 10-4 ATS. At home, the Eagles are 6-0 SU and 5-1 ATS.

The Eagles can earn the top seed in the NFC with a win at home Monday. Minnesota won on Saturday in the race for the NFC top spot, but the Eagles can nevertheless clinch that title with a win against Oakland.

Nick Foles will once again lead the Eagles offensive attack in his second start at quarterback for the injured Carson Wentz. In his first outing, Foles threw four touchdowns in the Eagles’ 34-29 victory over NFC East rivals the New York Giants.

Oakland’s slim hopes of a playoff spot were ended following consecutive losses to the Chiefs and Cowboys. In both games, the Raiders were driving for a go ahead score by ran into an index card and touchback.

Oakland’s head coach Jack Del Rio said his team would play to win and put its most recent loss behind them.

Marshawn Lynch has been very productive of late scoring five touchdowns over the Raiders last six games, but will have it tough Monday night against the No. 1 defense against the rush of the Eagles that is allowing only 71.5 yards on the ground per game.

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr threw two touchdown passes against Dallas to Michael Crabtree. Wide receiver Amari Cooper is expected to play Monday, but will be a game time decision.

Alshon Jeffery has nine touchdown receptions this season for the Eagles, with seven of them over the team’s past seven games. Zach Ertz, the Philadelphia All-Pro tight end has scored one touchdown in six consecutive home games.

Nelson Agholor has three touchdowns for the Eagles in the past four games, while Jay Ajayi has rushed for big gains and is averaging 6.4 per carry since joining the Eagles from Miami six games ago.

Prediction: Eagles will take this game outright, but the Raiders will keep it close and cover the number.