Philadelphia Eagles vs Baltimore Ravens Prediction NFL Picks 8/9/24

The Philadelphia Eagles and the Baltimore Ravens meet in week 1 NFL Preseason action from M&T Bank Stadium on Friday night. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Philadelphia Eagles vs. Baltimore Ravens prediction.

Philadelphia Eagles Recap

The Philadelphia Eagles come into the 2024 season hoping to build on a decent 2023 season where they finished 11-6, and second in the NFC East. The 11-6 mark was good enough for a Wild Card spot, but it’s worth remembering that the Eagles started 10-1 and finished the year by losing 5 of their last 6 games and then proceeded to get blown out by the Buccaneers in their Wild Card playoff game by a final score of 32-9. The Eagles have no change at QB with Jalen Hurts still running the show, but as much as the offense was reliant on Hurts, whether with his arm or moving the ball with his legs, he was always missing that lead running back to take some of the ground pressure off of him and the Eagles did that by acquiring Saquon Barkley in the offseason. It’s just all about if Barkley can stay healthy.

A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith make up one of the best 1-2 receiver punches in the league and Dallas Goedert is in his prime as one of the best tight ends in the NFL. The offensive line remains one of the best as well despite the retirement of Jason Kelce. On defense, the Eagles needed to improve on that side of the ball and it started at the top with Vic Fangio coming in to lead Philly as defensive coordinator. Devin White was brought in to lineup alongside Nakobe Dean at linebacker, while Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was added to bolster the Eagles’ secondary alongside Reed Blankenship at safety. The Eagles’ pass rush will still be the key to success on that side of the ball despite trading away top sack man Haason Reddick to the Jets. Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham and Nolan Smith still make up a formidable rush up front though, and Jalen Carter continues to be a rising star in this Eagles unit.

Baltimore Ravens Recap

The Baltimore Ravens come into the 2024 campaign hoping to keep the momentum going after a solid 2023 season where the Ravens went 13-4, winning the AFC North for the first time since 2019. The Ravens knocked out the Texans in the divisional round before falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 in the AFC title game. There was a lot more loss for the Ravens than there was gain in the offseason, but what was gained was massive. Lamar Jackson’s back at QB, but like the aforementioned Hurts, Jackson has sorely been missing that reliable running back to help shoulder the load on the ground so that it’s not all on Lamar Jackson to move the ball and the Ravens did that by bringing in Derrick Henry. The concern is that while Henry is an upgrade over guys like J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards from last year, can the patchwork offensive line hold up as the Ravens lost three linemen to free agency.

Zay Flowers leads the receiving group and Mark Andrews is back as one of the best tight ends in the league, but there needs to be more production further down the ladder and it’ll be interesting to see if that production comes. On defense, the Ravens lost some names as well, most notably Jadeveon Clowney, but Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh are back to lead the rush as well as former second-round draft pick David Ojabo. Roquan Smith is still around to anchor the linebackers, but the departure of Patrick Queen within the division to Pittsburgh makes the load a bit heavier for Smith. That being said, bringing back Justin Madubuike is huge after signing him to a $98 million deal, after logging a team-high 13 sacks last year. The Ravens’ secondary is mostly in tact as well, with Marlon Humphrey flanked by first-round draft pick Nate Wiggins coming in out of Clemson while Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Wiliiams will lead the way at safety.

Eagles vs. Ravens Prediction

This is an interesting one as both teams have a lot of their top-tier and top-string talent locked in, so it makes you wonder, with injury concerns in the past on both sides, how much of the starters we will actually see here. However, one thing that’s remained true, regardless of who plays, year after year, is that the Ravens show up in the preseason. The win streak in the preseason may be over for the Ravens after last year, but John Harbaugh always gets his guys going from the word go and at a pick ‘em, I have to go with old faithful in the preseason. Give me the Ravens.