2 Best Bets for Monday Night Football: Falcons at Eagles

The Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles kick off Week 2 of Monday Night Football at 8:15 pm ET tonight. Though a 5.5-point spread doesn't scream "must-see TV," there's still plenty of intrigue between two sides that entered the season with real postseason aspirations.

The Eagles' playoff hopes are alive and well -- they have the shortest odds to be the NFC's Number 1 seed (+240) -- after squeaking by the Green Bay Packers in Brazil last week. Atlanta's odds to make the playoffs have dropped to +116 following their Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but numberFire's power rankings still gave them a 49.8% chance of making the playoffs entering Week 2, seventh highest among NFC teams.

Still, Atlanta's opening-week loss gives tonight's game a pivotal point in the season for the visitors. Can they pull off an upset on the road, or will they drop to two games back behind a pair of 2-0 teams in the NFC South?

Below are the Falcons-Eagles odds courtesy of the NFL odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, followed by two best bets for Monday Night Football.

All NFL odds via FanDuel Sportsbook. Lines may change after this article is published.

Monday Night Football Betting Picks: Falcons at Eagles

Eagles -5.5 (-105)

Based on Week 1, it's hard to believe that Kirk Cousins is fully healed from his Achilles tear, even if he says otherwise.

Cousins had an ugly Falcons debut, completing just 16 of 26 passes for 155 yards. He threw a touchdown, but also two interceptions. Kirk's -0.44 EPA/dropback was the fourth-worst mark of Week 1 ahead of only Daniel Jones, Bo Nix, and Will Levis.

That's not great!

Granted, his opening matchup came against a healthy Pittsburgh Steelers defense, and the Eagles shouldn't present as tough of a test. They entered the season with PFF's 24th-ranked secondary and allowed 260 yards to Jordan Love, but they also held him to a 50% completion percentage and blitzed at one of the highest rates (32.4%) in the league.

That's where I have reservations with this Falcons team. If the Eagles can get to Cousins, his lack of mobility could be a major issue.

On the opposite side, the Eagles offense looked good in new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore's debut. Philly averaged the 12th-highest Net Expected Points (NEP; numberFire's EPA metric) per play, and they were seventh in passing NEP per play.

Now, they won't have A.J. Brown tonight -- that's a big loss. But DeVonta Smith was highly productive in Week 1, and he has one of the best wide receiver-cornerback matchups in Week 2.

The Falcons entered the year with PFF's 22nd-ranked secondary, though they do boast one of football's top corners in A.J. Terrell. While they held the Steelers to 133 passing yards last week, Philly offers a much tougher matchup.

Atlanta is equipped to handle the Eagles' run game, but they just didn't show enough on offense to warrant backing them to cover 5.5 points on the road. Philly was 6-2 at home last season, winning three of eight games by at least six points.

Still, I can't get behind this Atlanta offense until Cousins proves to be all the way back from last season's injury. Even with the Eagles missing one of their key offensive pieces, I like them to cover as 5.5-point favorites tonight.

Under 45.5 (-115)

My favorite way to play this game is by taking it to go under 45.5 points.

Last week, the Eagles' game showed a massive 63-point final total, but the Steelers-Falcons matchup only resulted in 28 total points. Atlanta was responsible for just 10 of those despite being at home and playing on turf.

Now, Philly's defense isn't as stout as Pittsburgh's, but they did hold Green Bay to just 10 second-half points after allowing a pair of long touchdowns to Jayden Reed in the first half. The Falcons had PFF's lowest pass-blocking efficiency score in Week 1, so we could see Philly's D-Line have an easier time this week after sacking the Packers just twice in the season-opener.

The Falcons' defense will present Philly with a tougher test than Green Bay's did, and they'll be without star wideout A.J. Brown. They'll sure be looking to get Saquon Barkley involved early after he recorded 24 carries in Week 1, but Atlanta's equipped to deal with that. They enter Week 2 with numberFire's No. 4 run defense.

numberFire's NFL game projections project 43.7 total points in this game, which is enough to warrant backing under 45.5 points at -115 odds.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.