The Philadelphia Eagles will once again try and play the role of spoiler when they invade MetLife Stadium this upcoming Sunday afternoon for their season finale against the New York Giants. This NFC East clash is set to get underway at 1 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast on FOX.

This betting preview is part of a season-long series where I use my years of experience covering the Eagles to offer a free NFL pick for the current week’s game utilizing Doc’s Sports Unit Betting System. Concentrating your handicapping efforts on a particular team that you are very familiar with can often times enhance your overall betting strategy when it comes to wagering on the NFL.

Betting Lines by 5Dimes        

Pointspread: New York -10.5
Total Line: 46.5

Game Overview: Philadelphia

At 4-11 the Eagles postseason hopes ended a long time ago, but they are in a position to knock the defending Super Bowl Champions out of the playoff race with a win in their final regular season game. They came painfully close to putting a major crimp in the Redskins’ postseason plans last Sunday in a 27-20 loss as 4.5-point home underdogs while showing that there were still some signs of life left in the team. Philadelphia has not only been painful to watch this season, it has been painful on the wallet with a 3-11-1 record against the spread. The total has gone “over” in four of its last five games.

The big news out of Philly this week has been Andy Reid’s decision to give Michael Vick the start against the Giants in what could very well be the last game for both the head coach and quarterback in Eagles’ green. This has nothing to do with a change of heart by the team’s top brass, but rather it is because rookie quarterback Nick Foles has a slight fracture in his throwing hand. Foles replaced Vick down the stretch as the heir apparent to the team’s starting quarterback position. How the rest of the Eagles rally around their former leader remains to be seen, but count on Vick putting on a show in what will basically amount to an audition for either his new head coach in Philadelphia or his new team in the NFL.

Game Overview: New York

Everyone keeps waiting for the Giants to put things in gear for another run to the Super Bowl, but this season they may have finally run out of gas. They have just two SU victories in their last seven games and come into this contest having been outscored 67-14 in back-to-back losses to Atlanta and Baltimore. Overall, New York is now 8-7 SU and 6-8-1 ATS. They only positive is the fact that the Giants are playing at home, where they are 5-2 SU (3-4 ATS) this season. The total has stayed under in six of their last seven games.

This year’s team suddenly bears little resemblance to last year’s champions in just about every phase of the game. The offense has fallen to 14th in the NFL in total yards, and Eli Manning has completed less than 60 percent of his passes in five of his last eight games. The defense has been completely lit up in three of its last five games and is now ranked 30th in the league in yards allowed and 18th in total points allowed. They may be able to reach down into their bags of tricks to get past the Eagles on Sunday, but it is hard to imagine any kind of postseason run this year given this team’s current form.

Game Betting Trends

The Eagles are 7-18-1 in their last 26 games following a SU loss and 1-3-1 ATS in their last five games against the NFC East. The total has stayed under in eight of their last nine road games.

The Giants are also 1-3-1 ATS in their last five division games and 2-6 ATS in their last eight games against a team with a losing record. The total has stayed under in six of their last seven games against the NFC East.

Head-to-head, the underdog in this series is 13-2-1 in the last 16 meetings and the total has stayed under in four of the last five games. Earlier this season, Philadelphia came away with a 19-17 victory as a two-point home favorite with the total staying under the 46-point line.

Game Prediction

My initial gut reaction to this matchup would be to go heavy on the under, but the Giants have shown the ability to put quite a few points on the board when playing at home. Vick has struggled to get this team into the end zone all season long, but the recent time off may have done him wonders. In the end, New York still comes away with the win, but count on the Eagles keeping things interesting deep into the fourth quarter. Utilizing Doc’s Unit Betting System, stick with Philadelphia to cover with the 10.5-point spread for 4 units.

Take #313 Philadelphia (+10.5) over New York for 4 Units

YTD Record: -17 Units (-$2000)