Best Bets for Philadelphia Eagles versus Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 8

At long last, the kickoff of another Philadelphia Eagles game approaches. Perhaps you’ve heard. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the opponent. Rumor has it that, even though the Black and Gold won’t commit to an answer, T.J. Watt may make an appearance. There’s a nice tidbit that we neglected to discuss this week. Most of us just assumed that he’d be absent.

Regardless of whether he plays or not, another Eagles triumph is expected. The Steelers aren’t as talented as the Dallas Cowboys or Minnesota Vikings. With all due respect, we feel better about this game than we did ahead of either of those.

This one catapults Philly into a short week. The Houston Texans await in Week 9 on Thursday Night Football, but first things first. The Birds have to take care of business versus Mike Tomlin and company.

FanDuel favors Philly by 10.5 points. We agree with the line. Expect a double-digit victory. Here are a few best bets to take advantage of as well.

Dallas Goedert Receiving Yards Total: Over 48.5 (-160)

No one would complain about the Eagles’ offense having too many weapons, but as has always been the case, the game is played with one football. For that reason, guys like Quez Watkins and Kenneth Gainwell at times see limited touches, but as long as Dallas Goedert, A.J. Brown, and DeVonta Smith are involved in the passing game, good things will happen.

Expect Shane Steichen to exploit the second level of Pittsburgh’s defense with Philly’s YAC (yards after catch) monster, Dallas Goedert. We expect him to exceed more than 50 yards receiving, and with his penchant for producing big plays, he could stack a huge portion of that total on one or two catches. He’s that type of special.

A.J. Brown Alternate Receiving Yards: Over 50 (-330)

Depending on how this one plays out, we could see a healthy rushing yards total at the game’s end. If we were to guess, we’d forecast one or two scenarios.

Pittsburgh might hang tough and see the game slip away in the second half. We could see the Eagles get out to a quick start and take the air out of the ball to salt this one away.

A.J. Brown figures to be a factor. How much of a factor he’ll be might be up for debate. You never know who the heroes in Philadelphia’s offense will be. For that reason, we aren’t eager to wager he’ll stack 72.5 yards or more, but we do feel comfortable in saying he’ll rack up more than 50 yards.

Philadelphia Eagles Score First and Win (-130)

The Philadelphia Eagles’ offense typically starts fast or they explode in the second quarter. More often than not, the Steelers get off to slow starts or sleepwalk before getting into a groove, even if they’re unable to sustain said groove or score points as a result.

After watching Pittsburgh in Week 7, it’s hard to imagine that they’ve fixed all of their issues in a week. It’s also hard to believe they’ll suddenly turn it on offensively or keep Philly out of the end zone consistently.

The Eagles score first, force turnovers, and they win big here. We’ll take Philly as the first scorer and the winner, especially seeing as how we expect another nice showing from Jonathan Gannon’s defense versus a rookie quarterback who’s still figuring things out.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.