Eagles Open as Favorites vs. Buccaneers in NFC Wild Card

The Philadelphia Eagles are favorites over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.

Even though they crawled to the finish in the regular season, the Philadelphia Eagles have opened as road Wild Card Round favorites over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

USA Today

FanDuel Sportsbook has the Eagles listed as 1.5-point favorites over the Buccaneers next weekend.

Obviously, the health of receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith -- among others -- will determine how this line moves throughout the course of the week. If the Eagles are without one or both in Tampa Bay, it would greatly limit the ability of quarterback Jalen Hurts and company to pull off a road win. 

Of course, even if the Eagles have both Brown and Smith there are serious concerns about the state of the team entering the postseason. After starting 10-1, the Eagles lost five of their final six games to finish the season 11-6. Their final two losses were particularly troubling, coming against the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants, two teams that won 10 combined games in 2023. 

Perhaps the only positive note for the Eagles is that the Buccaneers aren't exactly on fire heading into the playoffs either. Since winning four consecutive games and seizing control of the NFC South, the Buccaneers have scored 22 points in two games. They lost 23-13 to the New Orleans Saints in Week 17, before narrowly beating the lowly Carolina Panthers 9-0 in Week 18 to clinch a division title. 

Eagles All Over List of Most-Watched Sporting Events of 2023

Also, for whatever it's worth, the Eagles have already won once in Tampa Bay this season, defeating the Buccaneers 25-11 on Monday Night Football in Week 3. 

But the Eagles posted a -59 point differential over the final six weeks of the regular season. It's hard to feel great about their chances for victory on Wild Card Weekend, even if they are early favorites.