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NFL Preseason Betting Preview
Carolina Panthers at Philadelphia Eagles
Thursday, 8:00 pm Eastern – FOX

NFL primetime preseason action on Thursday is highlighted by the game on FOX television as the Philadelphia Eagles host the Carolina Panthers. Although it is only a preseason game it should be a good one as the Eagles are expected to play their starters for the majority of the first half. The Panthers are coming off a 23-20 overtime win against Indianapolis last week while the Eagles lost 16-10 to Pittsburgh.

Philadelphia is a 3 point favorite with a total of 35.5 at SBG Global.

The Eagles will be looking for another solid performance out of quarterback Donovan McNabb and the first string offense. Last week they played well before departing, as McNabb completed 10 of 13 passes for 97 yards and a score. Brian Westbrook did not play last week but is expected to see action on Thursday. Also expected to see their first preseason action are cornerback Asante Samuel, defensive end Chris Clemons, running back Lorenzo Booker, as well as top draft picks, Trevor Laws and DeSean Jackson.

The Panthers are led by quarterback Jake Delhomme who played well last week in his first action since suffering a season-ending right elbow injury last year. "All in all it was not a bad start. We ran the ball pretty efficiently early, and I was impressed with our pass rush in the first quarter," Carolina head coach John Fox said. "I was pleased with our quarterbacks. It wasn't awesome. I thought we missed a couple opportunities, but then again, I thought we made some pretty timely throws, too. It was a good start, but we also had a good start last preseason and went to Philadelphia where we did not play well." The Panthers hope that wide receiver Steve Smith is in the lineup on Thursday. He did not practice early in the week and was listed as day-to-day.

A look at the NFL betting history shows that the Panthers and Eagles have met four times in the regular season over the past four seasons with the Eagles winning three of the four games. Carolina head coach John Fox is 17-8 in the preseason including 9-3 on the road. Carolina finished the preseason undefeated in 2003, 2004 and 2006. Thursday’s game will be the second preseason meeting between Carolina and Philadelphia in their history and waiting for the NFL week one. They met last year in the preseason at Philly and the Eagles won 27-10. Under head coach Andy Reid, the Eagles are 13-25 in the preseason.