NFL Odds: Eagles host Packers in opener

The Green Bay Packers have not won a game in Philadelphia since the 1962 campaign and have been outscored by an average of 24-10 in the last seven trips there.

The Packers will attempt to reverse both trends Sunday afternoon when they travel to Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field to meet the Eagles in the season opener for both teams.

Most offshore sports books monitored by the Don Best odds product have the Packers listed as three-point road favorites, with the ‘total' set at 47.

The most recent meeting between these clubs at Philadelphia occurred in 2006, with the Eagles pounding the Packers 31-9 as 11-point favorites. The combined 40 points slipped ‘under' the 48 ½-point closing total. The ‘under' is now 7-1 in the last eight series meetings.

Including playoffs, the Eagles have now captured five of their last six meetings against the Packers. Philly has outscored Green Bay by a 25-15 margin during that span.

The Green Bay Packers were 11-5 both SU and ATS last season after going 6-10 SU and 8-8 ATS the year before. It is interesting to note that Packers began last year's campaign with seven consecutive ‘under' games.

The Packers own one of the league's brightest young stars in Aaron Rodgers, who became the NFL's first quarterback to pass for more than 4,000 yards in each of his first two seasons as a starter.

Though the defense is aging, especially in the secondary, the Packers have added nice young pieces in linebacker Clay Mathews and defensive tackle B.J. Raji. The defense improved dramatically last season despite the switch to Dom Capers' 3-4 scheme. They allowed just 83 YPG rushing (first), compared to 132 YPG (26th) a year earlier.

Green Bay finished fifth in passing yards allowed (201 YPG) but yielded 29 passing touchdowns, which was tied for fourth most last season. However, they also had a league-best 30 interceptions and 40 overall takeaways.

Three years after arriving in Philadelphia, Kevin Kolb is now the franchise's starting quarterback. The Eagles already had an established All-Pro starter at quarterback in Donovan McNabb when they surprisingly selected Kolb in the second round of the 2007 draft.

Just as Rodgers did with Favre, Kolb watched from the sidelines for three seasons before McNabb was traded to Washington in April after 11 seasons with the team.

Kolb started twice for the injured McNabb last season and became the first NFL signal-caller to throw back-to-back 300-yard games in his first two starts. However, it is important to note that one of those games was against a porous Kansas City secondary while the other saw him throw three interceptions in a blowout loss to the Saints.

The Eagles finished the 2009 campaign with an 11-5 SU and 9-7 ATS mark. That included going 3-3 ATS as a home favorite and 1-1 ATS as a home underdog. The ‘over' cashed in six of the club's first seven outings last season and finished 10-6-1 (including the playoff game with Dallas).

The Eagles finished with the league's 11th-best offense and were ranked 12th on defense. They had a rocky 5-4 start, including a crucial home loss to Dallas, but captured their next six outings. Last year's team had 70 starts lost to injury, which was the fourth most in the league.

Philly had a plus-15 turnover ratio last season and was plus-93 in point differential.

For more on this matchup, read Stephen Nover's take on the game.