St. Louis at Philly (-7)

Oz: This seems a little high for an opening line game for two teams we’re not entirely sure of. Philly could be a contender for the NFC crown. They might also not even make the playoffs given their division. St. Louis crapped the bed last year, but they also had a string of injuries to guys like Orlando Pace and Steven Jackson, two of their best players.

St. Louis (+7) over PHILADELPHIA

Joker: Two teams that had poor years last year that can mostly be blaimed on injuries.  Philly plays in the better division too, but that has nothing to do with this game.  St Louis should play better on offense, but so should Philly.  The Eagles definitely have the better defense, and I would say the offenses are pretty equal in explosiveness.  Philly is usually really tough at home, but can they win by more than a TD?

People will argue both sides, but I would say more people argue that favorites are better in the first few weeks.  Both sides will agree, however, that they are the best weeks to find uneven lines because the oddsmakers don’t know enough yet, either.   This game is tough for me because I like both of these teams to improve this year and be contenders (at least for the playoffs).  I am going to have to go with the home team that has the better defense.  They have an offense that can score enough to cover a one td line.  Lets put it this way, I decided to start Kitna vs Atlanta instead of Bulger vs Philly.

Eagles -7

Each week the Joker and Oz will be providing a breakdown, conversation, and some comedy regarding each NFL game for us at the Union. You can find Joker blogging every once in a while at Downtown Padres and OZ at The Matthew Osgood.