The Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles will square off in their 2025 NFL preseason opener on Thursday. The Bengals went 9-8 last season, but narrowly missed the playoffs after starting the season 1-4. Head coach Zac Taylor says the starters will play several series in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Eagles, who are not expected to play many of their starters, went 14-3 and secured Super Bowl LIX over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kickoff from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Cincinnati is a 6-point favorite in the latest Bengals vs. Eagles odds, while the latest NFL odds show the over/under for total points scored at 37.5. Before making any Eagles vs. Bengals picks, be sure to the see NFL predictions from SportsLine’s Matt Severance.
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Severance is a well-connected writer and high-volume NFL betting expert who has worked in the industry since 2005. In addition, he is on an impressive 24-10-1 roll on his last 35 money-line picks in Eagles games (+1431). Anyone who has followed him while using online sportsbooks promos and betting apps could be way up.
Here are Matt Severance’s best bets for Bengals vs. Eagles on Thursday:
- Eagles +6
- Under 37.5 total points
Eagles +6
Severance believes both teams will look to ease their way into the preseason. Philadelphia is coming off a shorter offseason, and Severance noted that Nick Sirianni technically opts to keep his starters on the bench, but you can’t argue with the results.
“In an effort to get this out as soon as possible, I am not sure if any starters will play on either side,” Severance said. “I am fairly confident that will not be the case for Philadelphia in its first game since the franchise’s second Super Bowl title. Obviously only one NFL team – Kansas City – had as short of an offseason. Nick Sirianni is one of those head coaches who opts not to play his starters in the preseason and it’s hard to argue with his regular-season results in that the Eagles are 4-0 in season openers under him. Philly was 2-1 in the 2024 preseason. The Bengals are winless in the past two preseasons under him and have never won more than a single exhibition game in a year in the Taylor Era. So we have to take +3.5 on the home Eagles even in a meaningless game.”
Under 37.5 total points
“The first week of the preseason is usually the sloppiest and lower scoring, so we lean Under,” Severance said. “For example, last year’s Bengals preseason opener saw 31 total points scored, while Philly’s opener had 29 points scored. No 2024 Eagles preseason game even reached 30 combined points.”
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