Hail To The Redskins!

Published on 9-Sep-2013 by Steve Soprano

Football - NFL    NFL Daily Stake

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Hail To The Redskins!

In Monday Night Football's regular season debut, the Redskins and Eagles will open and be followed by the Texans against the Chargers in San Diego.

Bovada's numbers have the home-team Redskins favored by 4 with a total of 52½. The visiting Texans are laying 5 in San Diego, with the total at 45.

The strongest play here is to take the Redskins and lay the four.

Of course, virtually all the attention will be focused on the return of Robert Griffin III, who missed the entire pre-season after undergoing knee surgery several months ago. But he's been given a clean bill of health, and that does not bode well for Philadelphia.

The Eagles' defense is peppered with new starters -- five, to be exact -- and have changed their scheme in the Chip Kelly era to a 3-4 look. Frankly, it's a look that didn't always look good during the pre-season.

Speaking of looks, take a look at the Bovada data tool on the Home page and note that the Eagles, other than allowing nine to Carolina, gave up point totals of 27, 24, and 31 points. It's also worth noting that the 27 points allowed was to the Jets, and the 24 was to Jacksonville. Now factor into the mix that tonight's game features RGIII & Company and see how much more sense backing Washington makes. 

The Eagles will have some chances under Kelly's fast-paced offense with Michael Vick calling the signals, but the Redskins defense has steadily improved under Mike Shanahan, so an over play here could be risky.

Plus, we expect the Eagles will fall behind to the point where they will become more predictable, and that may keep this one from going over

We do firmly believe the 'Skins will be up enough to keep their backers happy in the end, regardless of the total. Washington is definitely the play.

My pick:  Washington Redskins   -4

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UPDATE:

Result ... Philadelphia 33 Washington 27     Eagles cover

Steve Soprano is the handicapper and founder of www.premierticketsports.com.