Many Philadelphia Eagles fans had been clamoring for a quarterback switch. They had seen enough of Carson Wentz's struggles and wanted a change to rookie Jalen Hurts.
They got their wish. Now we get to see if it makes any difference.
Doug Pederson has benched Wentz for Hurts, the second-round rookie who starred at Alabama and Oklahoma in college. He had only appeared in a few plays here or there until last Sunday, when Wentz finally got benched and Hurts got most of the second half against the Green Bay Packers. Hurts wasn't great but did make some plays. And, he wasn't Wentz, who has been turning the ball over and taking sacks at a frustrating rate.
Hurts did what you'd expect him to do. He made some plays with his legs, rushing for 29 yards on five attempts. He threw a nice fourth-down touchdown pass. He completed only 5-of-12 passes but had 109 yards. His lone interception came at the end when the game was lost.
Hurts' first career start is not an easy one. He gets the New Orleans Saints, who are 7-point favorites. The Saints have played much better on defense the past few weeks and have won nine in a row. They haven't allowed more than 271 passing yards in a game this season.
To think Hurts can fix all that has gone wrong for the Eagles is probably asking too much. He can perhaps give some new energy to the offense but he's going to make mistakes too, and he's still playing with the same supporting cast and coaching staff that wasn't very good when Wentz was starting. The Saints are a very good team and I'll pick them to cover the 7-point spread.
Maybe Hurts plays well and keeps the job the rest of the season, but the Eagles haven't done anything as a team to earn any trust, especially against a good Saints team.
© Provided by Yahoo! SportsJalen Hurts will get his first career start against the Saints. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Here are the rest of the picks for Week 14 of the NFL season, with spreads from BetMGM:
Patriots (+5.5) over Rams
I can't explain how the Patriots are .500 or how they blew out a talented Chargers team 45-0. I don't know how they'll hang in with a Rams team that should be much better than them. But at this point, I'll just assume Bill Belichick will find a way to at least keep it close.
Jaguars (+7) over Titans
The Jaguars almost beat the Vikings and give them credit for playing hard when their season was lost long ago. The Titans are an impossible team to figure out. They have either looked great or absolutely awful for the past couple months, with no in between.
Giants (+2.5) over Cardinals
The Giants have played quite well against the spread most of the season, and last week at Seattle became the second double-digit underdog to win straight up this NFL season (Raiders over Chiefs was the other). It's hard to know what has happened with the Cardinals the past couple weeks, but their breakout season has been derailed.
Texans (-1) over Bears
The Bears' loss last week was a crushing one, giving up two touchdowns in the final three minutes to somehow lose to the Lions. The Texans had a bad loss too, with Deshaun Watson mishandling a snap with Houston down to Indianapolis' 2-yard line in the final minute, but I have more faith in them bouncing back and Watson putting up some points.
Vikings (+6.5) over Buccaneers
The Vikings have been winning. Some of those wins have been way too close, but at least they're winning. I think this line is way too high and it wouldn't surprise me if Minnesota wins straight up. It's not like Tampa Bay has looked that great the past few games.
Chiefs (-7) over Dolphins
The Chiefs have lost their last four games against the spread. That isn't always predictive, but it indicates that sportsbooks were tired of losing to bettors who would blindly bet Kansas City and inflated the Chiefs' spreads. I think this line looks a little high too.
Raiders (+2.5) over Colts
I'm not sure why the Raiders have looked so bad the past two weeks. I liked this team a lot before the debacles at the Falcons and Jets. I'm banking on a return home helping turn things around and getting Las Vegas back to the form they had early this season.
Jets (+13) over Seahawks
Gregg Williams is gone, so maybe that gives the defense a chance. I hate taking the Jets and haven't done it often in this space, but sometimes the line just seems way too high. The Jets have played hard at least.
Lions (+7.5) over Packers
Maybe the coaching change and a crazy win over the Bears gets the Lions excited for the rest of the season. They're not going to the postseason but perhaps they can treat this game like a playoff game. At more than a touchdown, I'll take Detroit.
Chargers (+2.5) over Falcons
The Chargers got blasted by the Patriots. But the Falcons won't give them the same defensive challenges that New England did, and I'm not sure why the Falcons should be favored in this spot.
Washington (+3) over 49ers
I like what we're seeing from Ron Rivera's team. And it's hard to put a number on San Francisco being displaced from home. It looked on Monday night like a team that reached a breaking point and is just ready to start the offseason. I'm not saying they won't play hard but it's understandable if their minds are elsewhere.
Steelers (+2.5) over Bills
A very interesting line. It seemed everyone circled this game as the one Pittsburgh would lose. Then the Steelers lost to Washington. The Bills look very good and I think they can be a factor in the AFC playoffs, but they lost one game. I'm not giving up on them as one of the top teams in the NFL this season, and I think they'll bounce back.
Off the board: Cowboys-Bengals, Broncos-Panthers, Ravens-Browns
The Cowboys and Ravens games aren't up because they played Tuesday night. There are COVID-19 issues with the Panthers. Based on what I think the lines will be at BetMGM, I'll take the Cowboys (the Bengals are just a terrible team right now), Broncos (they aren't terrible when they have a quarterback) and Browns (they'll want to keep proving they can compete with the better teams in the NFL).
Last week: 10-5
Season to date: 94-94-3