The Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles will square off against one another in NFC Wild Card Round. Despite having a better record, the Seahawks will have to travel to Lincoln Financial Field and be the road team on Sunday.
Nevertheless, Seattle has surprisingly been better on the road in 2019. The Seahawks have gone 7-1 on the road while boasting a record of 4-4 at home.
Heading into Sunday's contest, the Seahawks are narrow favorites over the Eagles. These two teams played each other earlier this season in Week 12. In that game, Russell Wilson willed Seattle to a 17-9 victory over Philadelphia as the away team.
As for the Eagles, they are extremely shorthanded on offense due to injuries. Even with the injuries, Carson Wentz led Philadelphia into the playoffs as the winners of the NFC East.
Not many people are giving Philadelphia a chance to defeat the Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs. Being the underdogs in the playoffs isn't an unfamiliar feeling for the Eagles.
There's no doubt that Sunday's meeting between the two teams will be an interesting one. In light of that, here is five bold predictions for the Seahawks and Eagles Wild Card matchup on Sunday.
5. Carson Wentz finishes with 325+ passing yards
When the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017, Wentz was unable to play due to injury. Therefore, the fourth-year quarterback will be starting in his first career playoff game versus the Seahawks.
The Eagles' offense has a slew of injuries on offense, but that hasn't deterred Wentz. In his last five starts, Wentz has contributed 1,509 yards, 10 touchdowns, and only one interception.
Given his recent success, Wentz will finish Sunday's game with 325 or more passing yards for the second time this season. Seattle's pass defense has surrendered 263.9 yards per game (sixth-most in the NFL).
4. Philadelphia will sack Russell Wilson five times
One of the only things going for the Eagles is that they have the advantage in the trenches. Without a doubt, Philadelphia's defensive front should see plenty of success against Seattle's mediocre offensive line.
The Seahawks' offensive line gave up 48 sacks on Wilson (10th most in the NFL). On the other hand, the Eagles have accumulated 43 sacks as a defensive unit (14th in the NFL).
The Eagles will create an immense amount of pressure on Wilson on Sunday, sacking him five times.
3. Marshawn Lynch rushes for 100 yards
The Seahawks are going to have to survive in the playoffs without Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny. Luckily for them, they were able to convince Marshawn Lynch to return to the team from free agency.
However, Lynch hasn't played in a postseason game since the 2015 season with the Seahawks. In his last game in the playoffs, he rushed for only 20 yards on six attempts versus the Carolina Panthers.
This time around, Lynch is likely to be given more than six rushing attempts. If he does receive a healthy workload, Lynch will gash Philadelphia's No. 3 ranked run defense for 100 yards.
2. Miles Sanders records 125 rushing yards
Ever since the Eagles became shorthanded at wide receiver, Miles Sanders has seen his role expanded in the offense. The first-year running back finished his rookie campaign with 1,327 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns.
Furthermore, Sanders only had one game 100 or more rushing yards. That game came in Week 15 when he gained 122 yards on the ground versus the Washington Redskins.
In Sanders' first playoff game, the Penn State product will gash Seattle's defense for a career-high 125 rushing yards on Sunday.
1. Philadelphia advances to the NFC Divisional Round
After looking at the state of both teams, it's shocking to see Seattle be favorited by only 1.5 points. The Seahawks have the better team and a quarterback who has experience in the playoffs.
At the same time, Philadelphia has overcome injuries to win their last four games. It almost seems as if the Eagles are destined to advance in the playoffs as they ride the momentum they finished the regular season with.
Without a doubt, the Seahawks should be able the favorites to win on Sunday. But since this is a bold prediction article, the Eagles are going to survive for another week by taking down the Seahawks in front of their home crowd.
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