Eagles enter the 2023 season as big Week 1 road favorites

The Eagles are 4.5-point road favorites over the Tom Brady-less New England Patriots.

Now that the 2023 NFL schedule is officially in place, our friends over at DraftKings Sportsbook have betting lines posted for all the games.

Are you interested in betting on the Birds? If so, you can begin with the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 1 matchup against the New England Patriots. Philly enters that tilt as … 4.5-point road favorites. Wow. The oddsmakers don’t seem to be buying extra juice in the building for Super Bowl LII-losing quarterback Tom Brady getting his first Patriot Of The Week award as they honor him post-retirement.

In fairness, they’re not alone. Even the Patriots fans over at Pats Pulpit aren’t optimistic about their season opener:

Prediction: Patriots lose

I don’t really need to explain this one, do I? This is perhaps the only team in the entire league that legitimately can go punch-for-punch with the Super Bowl Champ Kansas City Chiefs, and you can’t say with a straight face that if that game went one more quarter, the Eagles wouldn’t be hoisting their (barf) second Super Bowl trophy in six seasons. Even if Bill O’Brien succeeds in turning the Patriots offense into a spread-and-shred machine, the Eagles still pack one of the most unique offensive schemes in football that can mash you into the ground one drive and see Jalen Hurts dial up a throw that should have the NFL Blitz flames graphic behind it to any one of his pass-catchers that are a house-call threat every down.

Factor in the Patriots’ classic “still the preseason” start under Bill Belichick, and, yeah. This one will be a prophecy of hope if the Patriots can keep it within double digits.

The Pats have been a mediocre team since Brady left; that much is reflected by their 43-42 record. I don’t know that the Eagles definitely blow them out. But you have to like Philly’s Alabama quarterback (Jalen Hurts) more than New England’s Alabama quarterback (Mac Jones).

There aren’t many fearsome players on the Patriots’ roster. Matt Judon is certainly good; he’s coming off a 15.5-sack season and he has 28 in his last 34 games. But you have to like the Eagles’ chances of mitigating the damage he can do since the Birds boast a strong offensive line.

Outside of Judon? Rhamondre Stevenson is a nice player … who also has some fumbling issues. The offensive line is above average but not spectacular. JuJu Smith-Schuster is probably going to want to keep his head on a swivel after trash talking the Eagles following Super Bowl LVII.

The Eagles should be able to start their journey to return to the Super Bowl with a win. Of course, what should happen in the NFL is not always what does happen.