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Talk about a sharp line.
The oddsmakers opened the Jaguars-Eagles game with a line of Eagles -6.5 before immediately jumping to -7, then maintaining the line at -7.5 the remainder of the week leading up to this game. Some books moved down to -7 the hours leading up to game time.
Greater than 80% of the bets were flowing in on Philadelphia.
So what happened?
Jacksonville covered the spread with a 5-point loss.
Figures.
The 28-23 victory was Philadelphia's fifth straight win outright. Not good enough for most gamblers unless they were backing the Eagles moneyline, or the Jaguars to cover (most were not on the latter).
Saquon Barkley had 27 carries for 159 yards and a touchdown. He also had three receptions for 40 yards and a TD.
The Eagles (6-2) held on after coach Nick Sirianni wasted chances to put easy points on the board. The Eagles went 0 for 2 on fourth down and were 0 for 3 on 2-point conversions, forcing them to let Jake Elliott try a 57-yard field goal with 2:16 left.
Elliott missed, giving the Jaguars (2-7) the ball at their own 47-yard line.
Eagles defensive back Avonte Maddox was flagged 18 yards for pass interference that helped move the ball to the Eagles 13.
But Jacksonville's second-half rally ended when Lawrence's terrible pass was picked off in the end zone by Nakobe Dean.
“We took our losses early,” Dean said. “We learned early how to fight through a game. How to build that toughness to play all four quarters. This was a big learning step in how to not get lax when we feel like we dominated the game.”
Jalen Hurts was 18 of 24 for 230 yards. He threw for two scores and ran for another.
The question you have to ask yourself in Week 10: Are the 2-7 Straight Up Jaguars really destined to cover the spread in four straight games?
They will be facing off against mighty Minnesota in Week 10.
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