The backup quarterback has always been called the most popular guy in town, but in 2017, Nick Foles proved how truly important the position is in the modern NFL, catching fire and helping the Eagles to the franchise's first-ever Super Bowl win in the wake of Carson Wentz's ACL injury.
Foles' importance is on display again this week, with the backup quarterback suffering a shoulder strain and Las Vegas pulling every single Eagles bet off the board almost immediately.
The Las Vegas Westgate pulled the Eagles' Week 1 game against the Falcons (Philly was -3.5) off, took the NFC East odds off the board for all the teams involved and also removed the Eagles' win total from their mobile site.
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The Week 1 line is also off the board at Sportsbook.ag.
The Eagles are still favored (-150) to win the NFC East on Sportsbook.ag, but their win total has been removed from the site.
It's not unusual for a win total or a line to be removed for a major injury, but again, this is the backup quarterback we're talking about. Wentz is coming off an ACL injury he suffered late in the 2017 season, but the expectation for a long time was he would be able to play in Week 1.
Recently Wentz indicated he might not be ready for Week 1, or at least that it would be very close either way.
Which leads us to Foles who, until his injury on Thursday night, was really starting to look like he might end up being the Eagles' Week 1 starter against the Falcons. That would have made the Falcons very nice value, getting 3.5 points, against Foles. He's the reigning Super Bowl MVP, but getting a chance to bet against a backup quarterback while getting points is good value.
As R.J. White wrote on SportsLine back in April (use promo code "WILL" and get your first month for just $1), the Falcons already had value on the opening line of +3.5, which moved up a point to +4.5 during the offseason before coming back down to the opening number prior to Foles' injury.
It's April, so we have no idea whether the Eagles will have Carson Wentz (torn ACL), Alshon Jeffery (torn rotator cuff) and Jason Peters (torn ACL) in the lineup for the first Thursday game of the year. If they do play, they'll be coming off a preseason with little (if any) work. The Falcons are coming in hungry after a close loss to the Eagles ended their season. Matt Ryan and Co. could win this one outright.
And as I pointed out in July, the Eagles could see things go sideways and potentially miss the playoffs. It wasn't predicated on the Eagles being not good at football or having a bad roster. It was predicated on injuries potentially striking Philly, including at the quarterback position.
I've been mocked on the Internet for such a proclamation -- which wasn't a hot take, just a note that sometimes teams regress more than anything -- and by Eagles tackle Lane Johnson. I'm not saying I'm right now, because Foles might be fine. Foles could be done for the year and I still might end up being wrong. (Spoiler: I'm wrong a lot. Everyone is.)
But this sort of injury in the preseason to the backup quarterback who won Super Bowl MVP, when the MVP candidate is already coming off a tough knee injury, is a bad early sign and apparently reason to be concerned, at least as far as Vegas betting lines go.
