Predictions Summary Projections by Position Projection Team Boxes

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Prediction: SEA 20, PHI 27 (Line: PHI by 1)

This will be a fascinating game to watch since both teams are playoff contenders and yet could not be more different. The 8-4 Seahawks are only 3-3 on the road. The 9-3 Eagles are 6-0 at home. The Eagles tend to be in shootouts with plenty of points by both teams while the Seahawks tend to lower scoring matchups where neither team does much. Something has to change here and this game answers if the Seahawks are just not going to compete like last year or if the Eagles cannot stand up to a good defense.

The Seahawks have scratched their way back up with wins over the injury ravaged Cardinals and the stumbling 49ers but road games are the problem and the offense away from Seattle has consistently been worse. The problem that will happen this week is that the Seahawks cannot play “keep up” and mounting comebacks are very hard because there is just minimal passing ability here. Russell Wilson will try to carry this team on his back with passing and running but he is just not getting the help from the receivers.

QUARTERBACK : Russell Wilson has become a very average quarterback in fantasy terms with only seven passing touchdowns over the last eight games and along with around 200 yards every week. He’s good for higher rushing yardage in recent weeks but ran in just once score in the last six weeks. He rarely commits a turnover but the fantasy points just are not there since mid-season.

RUNNING BACK : Marshawn Lynch has been used less as a receiver in recent weeks with just one catch in most games but the rushing yards remain solid in most and Lynch comes off 104 yards on 20 carries in San Francisco. One reality – Lynch nine rushing scores were all in home games and his receiving scores stopped back in week five.

WIDE RECEIVER : No fantasy value here. Just none. Doug Baldwin is as close as it gets and he has just two scores all year and yet only 34 total yards over the last two games. And it is really no different from last year.

TIGHT END : Luke Wilson is as good as it gets here – and that is not very good. He usually accounts for around 20 yards per game and scored twice all year. Tony Moeaki is a nonfactor but has popped up recently with four catches in week 12 and one catch in week 13 that went for 63 yards.

MATCH TO THE DEFENSE: This is as good as it will get for Wilson passing. The Eagles are weak against quarterbacks and allow multiple scores in almost every opponent. But the weak secondary faces one of the worst sets of wide receivers in the NFL. It doesn’t bode very well that Lynch has all nine rushing scores in home games. Wilson is a fantasy consideration this week since all quarterbacks are when facing Philly but the weakness of the Seahawks is the weakness of the Eagles. Plus the Eagles are very opportunistic with sacks and interceptions.

The Eagles are flying very high right now coming off a beatdown of their only rival for the NFC East in their stadium. The rematch with the Cowboys is next week but will be a home game and there is little chance that the Eagles will overlook the reigning Superbowl Champions. Even a loss here would not be catastrophic knowing they could just beat Dallas the next week and then dispatch the rest of the division in the final two road games in Washington and New York. But a win here stamps the Eagles as a near lock to end up playing the Packers in the championship game. That may be too forward thinking but taking down the Seahawks clears the path for a big January.

QUARTERBACK : While Mark Sanchez fell to only 217 passing yards and one score in Dallas for Thanksgiving, he added his first rushing touchdown to help maintain fantasy value. The reality was that Sanchez had already thrown a score and passed for 200 yards by halftime and the Eagles went to just rushing for the second half. Sanchez has done a solid job at the helm.

RUNNING BACK : LeSean McCoy comes off a season best 159 yards and a score on 25 carries and that makes back-to-back rushing efforts over 100 yards with a score. McCoy started slowly for the first month of the season but has since been far more productive and scored in three of the last four games. Darren Sproles only value is the occasional touchdown run as his yardage has declined as the season progresses.

WIDE RECEIVER : Since Mark Sanchez took over, Jeremy Maclin went from being one the top scoring wideouts (eight scores in eight games) to suddenly turning in very mediocre games while Jordan Matthews went from mediocrity to being the team stud with five scores over the last five games. But Maclin bounced back with nine catches for 93 yards and a score in Green Bay and two weeks later just caught eight passes for 108 yards. So far, Sanchez has thrown a touchdown pass to one of the two in each game if not both. Even more so than with Nick Foles, the wide receivers get more action than ever before in the Chip Kelly offense.

TIGHT END : Gains made by McCoy and the wide receivers have largely came at the expense of the tight ends. The more rushing means that Zach Ertz is less often on the field and in the win over the Cowboys he and Brent Celek were down to a combined single catch.

MATCH TO THE DEFENSE: There is no arguing that the Seahawks are great against the pass though that has been helped in part by facing some weaker offenses and any team with the ability to score like the Eagles has done well enough to score at least twice via the pass on the Seahawks. Four teams had 280+ pass yards versus the Seahawks. The rushing defense at times is great and others is weak. Jamaal Charles laid down 159 yards and two scores on this defense. The Eagles are less likely to have another huge win like most of the last month, but Sanchez, McCoy, Maclin and Matthews are still worth considering if only because they are playing at home. Richard Sherman will draw Jeremy Maclin.

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