The New England Patriots will open up their NFL preseason 2013 campaign on the road as they face the Philadelphia Eagles in a pro football exhibition contest on Friday night.
Kick off time from Philadelphia is scheduled for 7:30PM Eastern Time with live national television coverage available on the NFL Network.
The betting odds from this NFL preseason affair have the home side Philadelphia Eagles favored by -4 ½ points with an over under line of 40 points. A money line bet on the Philadelphia Eagles return -220 odds with the New England Patriots bringing back +180 odds to pull off the straight up win without the aid of points.
Starters see little time in practice as coaches look to evaluate their roster. Patriots starter Tom Brady figures to go a few series. The backups in New England are veterans Ryan Mallet and newcomer Tim Tebow.
The Patriots featured running backs in Stevan Ridely and Shane Vereen are a valuable one-two punch for the team. Those competing for carries are veterans Leon Washington, LeGarrette Blount and Brandon Boldon. The Patriots will look to improve on a defense that has ranked in the bottom 20% of the NFL in each of the past three seasons. They allowed 284 yards passing per game in 2011 and 273 yards per contest a season ago. Their third and fourth picks of the draft came in the secondary.
Chip Kelly will make his debut as head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday night. There is a competition at the quarterback position between veteran Michael Vick and PAC 12 youngsters in Nick Foles and rookie Matt Barkley. Also on the roster for the Eagles is former Oregon Duck and five year man Dennis Dixon. G.J. Kinnne from Tulsa is also on the roster.
The Eagles have a good slew of back in LeSean McCoy, Felix Jones and Chris Polk. Also competing for carries in the Philadelphia backfield will be rookie Matthew Tucker and second year man Bryce Brown. The Eagles missed the playoffs two seasons in a row and the team fired Andy Reid. Philadelphia went 1-5 against the NFC East last season and was haunted by turnover problems on the offensive side of the ball. With only a 17 point per game average last season the Eagles made three of their first four draft picks on the offensive side of the football.
