Who’s Picking the Eagles?

Here’s a roundup of national media predictions for Monday’s Eagles-Colts game.

Elliot Harrison of NFL.com takes the Eagles with a four-point win:

Eagles 34, Colts 30

This, without question, is the toughest game to pick this weekend. Will the Colts maintain any semblance of a run game? Will the Eagles sleepwalk through most of the first two quarters? Indy’s running backs carried the football a grand total of nine times last week. Give Andrew Luck some help, man. And if you recall, Philly followed up a strong opening-day performance in 2013 with a lackluster loss to San Diego in Week 2. I’m giving the road team the benefit, here, because the Colts’ coverage is suspect, with not much of a pass rush to make up for it.

ESPN.com has four analysts (Eric Allen, K.C. Joyner, Mark Schlereth, Tom Jackson) choosing the Eagles while the remaining nine predict the Colts to win.

CBSSports.com has three of eight experts predicting an Eagles victory.

FoxSports.com gives us a split decision with three going in favor of the Eagles and three against.

NFL.com gives a positive review for the Eagles with three of five analysts picking the birds.

USA Today has a grim outlook for the Birds with only two of seven writers going with Philadelphia.

Frank Schwab and Eric Adelson of Yahoo Sports both favor the Colts to win.

Don Banks of SI.com like the Colts, 27-24.

The season-ending Achilles tear suffered by Robert Mathis might very well take the Colts out of serious Super Bowl contention, which shows how much his big-play talent means to Indy’s defense. But in the short term, with Mathis serving a four-game league suspension that would have seen him miss this game anyway, I see Andrew Luck and Co. finding a way to beat the fast-break Eagles and even their record at 1-1 with their AFC South schedule about to commence.

Pro Football Talk has a split decision:

MDS’s take: The Eagles’ offensive line is suffering right now, but I don’t think the Colts, minus Robert Mathis, have the kind of defensive front that can capitalize. Nick Foles will have a big day and the Colts will drop to 0-2.

MDS’s pick: Eagles 30, Colts 20.

Florio’s take: No matter the adversity, the Colts will be competitive as long as Andrew Luck is the quarterback. Philly can afford to lose five or six games and still win the division easily. The first loss comes on Monday night.

Florio’s pick: Colts 27, Eagles 23.

Matt Cassidy is a journalism student at Temple and an intern at Birds 24/7.