The Philadelphia Eagles and the Cleveland Browns will stage of preview of their 2012 opening day matchup when they clash this Friday night in Week 3 of the NFL Preseason. Friday night’s game at Cleveland Browns Stadium is slated to kick off at 7:30 p.m. (EST) and it will be broadcast locally in each team’s home market.

This betting preview is part of an ongoing weekly series where we take an in-depth look at each and every Eagles’ game this year and offer a free NFL pick using Doc’s Unit Betting System.

Betting Lines by 5Dimes        

Pointspread: Cleveland -3.5
Total Line: 38

Game Overview: Philadelphia

Philadelphia’s head coach Andy Reid will come into this game holding his cards close to his vest considering his team has to play the Browns for real in a little over two weeks. He decided to run a final dress rehearsal this past Monday night against New England, and even though the Eagles came away with a 27-17 victory as a three-point road favorite, he cannot be pleased with the 16 penalties they committed, including a few that extended Patriots’ drives. While the majority of his starters will see little or no action in this game, look for Reid to put a strong emphasis on playing mistake-free ball on Friday night

Michael Vick is most likely done for the preseason after bruising his ribs last Monday night, but that may actually work in Philadelphia’s favor in this game. Rookie Nick Foles has gotten the majority of the snaps in the preseason due to an injury to back-up Mike Kaftka as well and has made the most of the opportunity. Through two games, the former Arizona signal-caller has gone 18-for-28 for 217 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, he has shown incredible poise in the pocket and the presence of mind that some veteran NFL quarterbacks do not display. He should split time with Trent Edwards in this game but get the start.

Another positive has been the much-improved play of Philadelphia’s defensive front seven. Whether the starters or the backups have been in the lineup, this unit has been able to stuff the run and put a tremendous amount of pressure on the quarterback in both contests.

Cleveland head coach Pat Shurmur will undoubtedly come into this game with a very vanilla game plan as well, but he still has a number of issues to work through on both sides of the ball considering he is trying to rebuild a team that has not won more than five games in each of the past four seasons. The Browns are off to a solid start with straight-up road wins over Detroit and Green Bay, but they have to be concerned over the fact that their first-team offense has scored just one touchdown so far.

The big, but expected, news in Cleveland is that first-round pick Brandon Weeden has been handed the keys to offense as the Browns new starting quarterback. He has completed just over 50 percent of his attempts and has yet to find the end zone with a pass. The Browns where hoping to support the rookie with a running game that featured their other first-round pick, Trent Richardson, but it appears he will miss both games against Philadelphia with an injured knee. Cleveland has some injury concerns on defense as well, with linebacker Chris Gocong and defensive lineman Phil Taylor most likely done for the year.
Game Prediction

Philadelphia will probably rest a good number of its starters on both sides of the ball for this game. However, they will still have a highly motivated Foles at quarterback to go along with a number of equally-motivated defensive lineman and linebackers that are fighting for a spot on a very deep and talented roster. Look for Foles to once again move the Eagles’ offense no matter which players are around him, and look for the defense to make life miserable all night long for whoever is behind center for Cleveland. Just like the first two preseason games, stick with a one-unit wager for this game utilizing Doc’s Sports Unit Betting System. This time take Philadelphia to cover with the points.

Pick: #257 Take Philadelphia +3.5 over Cleveland (Friday, 7 p.m. EST) for 1 Unit

Season Results: 1-1, -$10

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