MACK'S NFL MNF PRIME TIME!
(NFL) Falcons (ATL) vs. Eagles (PHI),
Point Spread: 5.50 | -105.00 Falcons (ATL) (Away)
Result: Win
The Falcons should be able to put in a better performance. They didn’t play a great game last week and Kirk Cousins didn’t perform at all. However, this offense is still dynamic as they have a great receiving room, and after another week of practice, expect to see the Falcons put up more offense as they try to establish the run in this game. Kirk is off an achilles that made him look not very mobile, but he also was forced into shotgun formation snaps that didn’t suit his style of play and in a new system too, so expect them to come up with another scheme for him that better suits his style. The Falcons should be more competitive in this game and some good things going for them was that their defense still held up against Pittsburgh last week, despite losing, as they ran more zone coverage than anyone else. This is still a new defensive scheme for the Falcons and it's too early to panic. The Eagles gave up a lot of yards per carry in their Brazil game and that is going to play well for the Falcon’s run game as they get Bijon going and will also take the pressure off of Kirk. The Eagles will be without A.J. Brown, who is a key piece to their offense and that plays into the Falcon’s favor. There are some holes in the Eagles defense that the Falcons can exploit and Hurts didn't look that great in Brazil getting picked off twice in that game. The Eagles are also back from another country so this game may start slow and players may appear sluggish and that could be to the Falcon's advantage. Kirk Cousins' record in prime time isn’t great, he is 3-10 straight up , however, he is above .500 in covering the spread on Monday nights in the last few seasons and those three wins have come more recently in his career as he's won the last three. They will be desperate for a win and they will show up in this game. Kirk should put in a much better performance that suits his style of play. Philadelphia at home last season was just 2-4-1 against the spread. Teams that are favorites in Week 1 off a loss (like Atlanta) going into Week 2 are generally 65-44-4 against the spread. When the team they are playing (Philadelphia) in Week 2, only won their game by less than seven points in week One, those teams (like Atlanta) go 15-2 against the spread in Week 2. As a 5.5-point favorite or greater, the Eagles have one win against the spread and went 1-4-2 last season in that scenario, and they are also 1-7 against the spread in their last eight games. Bettors shouldn't overreact to what they see week to week so the value is on the underdog in this game that should be a much closer game.

Best bet: take the points with Atlanta.