Eagles-Saints spread already moving amidst Jalen Hurts injury update

The Philadelphia Eagles face the New Orleans Saints in Week 17, needing one more win to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and earn a coveted bye into the second round.

With so much on the line, Philly’s MVP-hopeful quarterback, Jalen Hurts, is “going to push to play this week,” according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, after missing last week’s narrow loss to the Cowboys with a shoulder injury.

As was the case last week when the line for Cowboys-Eagles moved before the Hurts injury news was widely reported, Vegas is a step ahead again this week. The spread for Eagles-Saints opened with the Eagles as 4-point favorites but has since moved all the way to Eagles -6.5.

It’s interesting to see such a big move in the spread considering Eagles backup QB Gardner Minshew looked solid against Dallas and Rapoport also said it’s, “up in the air,” in reference to Hurts playing this week. Obviously, Hurts has played at an MVP-caliber level this year, but the Eagles narrowly lost to the Cowboys on the road with Minshew under center last week. Surely they’ll be able to handle the 6-9 Saints at home this week.

Whether Hurts starts or not, the Eagles are in an excellent position to get the win they need to clinch home field throughout the playoffs against a Saints team that’s 2-4 against the spread as road underdogs this season.  While New Orleans did win outright as a road dog against the Cleveland Browns, and covered their last two as road underdogs, I feel comfortable in the Eagles winning by a touchdown with either Minshew or Hurts under center.

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.