Thursday night’s NFL preseason meeting between the host Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts will be must-see TV if the game plays out the way their scuffle-fest joint practice did Tuesday.
The extremely chippy 90-minute practice came to an end when a benches-clearing brawl ensued after Eagles All-Pro center Jason Kelce waylaid Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin with a blindside hit one play after Franklin administered a late hit on Philly RB Kenneth Gainwell.
In that one practice, the Colts showed more fight than they seemed to have most of last season when they went 4-12-1 and finished third in the AFC South. These days, they are in a major rebuild behind rookie coach Shane Steichen, rookie QB Anthony Richardson, and now most likely without their standout running back, Jonathan Taylor, who has been permitted to seek a trade while in his ongoing contract squabble.
So, there’s a lot of work to be done to get that offense percolating before Indy’s opener at home on Sept. 10 against defending AFC South champ Jacksonville.
The Eagles, meanwhile, are a smooth-running outfit, coming off a 14-3 season and a berth in the Super Bowl. There’s not a lot of major experimenting that needs to be done, and therefore there’s little need to put starters in harm’s way in this exhibition.
One of Philadelphia’s concerns, though, is to find a capable backup for star QB Jalen Hurts. The Eagles’ second-teamer last season, Gardner Minshew, is now a Colt.
Colts vs. Eagles Odds: NFL Preseason Week 3
The Colts are listed as a 4.5 to 5-point favorite on the top US sports betting apps. On Tuesday, some sites had the spread at 4. The Over/Under total ranges from 38 to 38.5 points. On the moneyline, Indianapolis can be had at -200 (FanDuel, BetMGM, and PointsBet), while the Eagles are +180 at Caesars.
Last week, the favorites had a straight-up record of 8-6-2 and a 7-9 mark against the spread. The Over came in eight times, and there was a push.
Backers of the San Francisco 49ers cashed in the best on the moneyline at +164 thanks to their 21-20 victory at Denver.
Home teams were 6-8-2 straight up. Home favorites were 3-3-2.
NFL · Thu (8/24) @ 8:00 pm ET
| Indianapolis Colts | at | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA | ||
Colts Betting News
The Colts’ new coach certainly knows quite a bit about what makes the Eagles tick considering he was the team’s highly successful offensive coordinator the past two seasons.
And the same goes for Minshew, who served as a backup in Philly the past two years before following Steichen to Indianapolis.
In the Colts’ 24-17 home victory against Chicago last week, Minshew was 13-for-15 passing for 107 yards and a TD. Overall this summer, he’s 19-for-21 for a 90.5 percent completion rate that’s tops among league passers with more than four throws.
But the player expected to open at QB on Thursday is Richardson, the fourth overall pick in the draft who was announced last week as the season-opening starter. He surely needs a pile of the snaps considering even in college he didn’t play much with only 13 starts at Florida before entering the draft after his sophomore season.
He didn’t participate in last week’s game and in the opener, a 23-19 loss at Buffalo, got in for the first three series covering 27 plays. He was 7-for-12 passing for 67 yards and an interception. Indy didn’t score on any of those drives, but twice the Colts gained possession inside their 10 and in the other instance on their 25.
As for the backfield, there’s an immediate need to find a No. 1 RB for the opener.
In addition to the current absence of Taylor, backup Zack Moss is out with a broken arm. Without them, the ground game has been a great disappointment. Excluding rush yards by quarterbacks, the Colts have averaged only 2.8 yards a carry this summer. Last year in the regular season, Taylor and Moss teamed to have a norm of 4.6 yards on 268 carries.
And then there’s the defense. In this game, the Colts probably will be operating with a depleted unit after three backups suffered injuries against the Bears.
Eagles Betting News
Starting QB Jalen Hurts, who signed a $255 million contract in the offseason ($179.3M guaranteed), hasn’t played this summer and almost certainly won’t here. He got in work during the joint drills when he got to wear a “don’t hit me” jersey as all the QBs did.
What the Eagles need to see is if they can count on Marcus Mariota to be a quality backup to Hurts. So far, he’s had a disappointing preseason, going only 16-for-28 for 144 yards with an INT and a norm of 5.1 a throw. Last year in 13 games for Atlanta, before getting benched, his average was 7.4 a pass.
He also has had trouble avoiding the rush, getting sacked four times.
The current third-teamer is Stanford rookie Tyler McKee, a sixth-round draft choice. He’s averaged 7.7 yards a throw and has a TD pass and no INTs. He’ll likely split time with Mariota in this game.
Colts vs. Eagles Props
Here are some Colts vs. Eagles props:
Winning Margin (FanDuel)
- Colts 1-13 points (+140)
- Colts 14+ points (+240)
- Eagles 1-13 points (+220)
- Eagles 14+ points (+800)
Colts vs. Eagles Prediction
In addition to Richardson, a host of other Indy first-teamers reportedly will start against an Eagles squad that no doubt will rest virtually all its key folks.
Richardson is by no means an accomplished passer but has a strong arm that will benefit from more and more experience. After all, he completed only 53.8 percent of his throws with the Gators last year. To put that in perspective, no NFL passer with more than 22 passes last season had a worse percentage. But he did rush for 654 yards.
As long as he’s working behind the first-team line and going against backup defenders, he should show some improvement and lead Indy to a score or two.
Then there’s Thursday’s weather that should be taken into consideration. According to NFLWeather.com on Wednesday morning, there is a 40-45 percent chance of thunderstorms throughout the game with gusts up to 15 mph. All that spells Under.
And one more thing: Will Steichen and Minshew be able to decipher any of the communication relayed by the Eagles coaches on the sideline or understand some of the audible calls at the line of scrimmage?
Prediction: Colts moneyline and the under.
Colts vs. Eagles Broadcast and Game Day Information
Game Day: Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023
Game Time: 8:00 p.m. EDT
Location: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Channel: Prime Video
Colts and Eagles Futures
Colts to win Super Bowl: +15000 (BetMGM)
Colts to win AFC: +8000 (Caesars, BetMGM)
Colts to win division: +700 (Caesars)
Colts’ win expectancy: 6.5 (Multiple Sportsbooks)
Eagles to win Super Bowl: +800 (FanDuel, BetMGM)
Eagles to win NFC: +330 (FanDuel)
Eagles to win division: -115 (FanDuel)
Eagles’ win expectancy: 11.5 (Multipe Sportsbooks)
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