New England at Philadelphia

This exhibition game offers substantial history to follow as it relates to coaching philosophies. This year marks the 10th for Andy Reid as head coach of the Eagles and the ninth for Belichick leading the Pats. Coach Reid has never been about winning in the exhibition season, but rather about testing and evaluating new personnel. That is evidenced by the fact that Philadelphia has not had a winning record during the preseason for each of the last six seasons. His teams are 15-25 during the NFL-X under his tenure. His record gets even worse in week one, where Reid's Eagles are just 3-8. It is tough to lay points with a team that has a long history of winning very little under their current coach - especially in week one. Coach Belichick actually has a winning record since taking over at New England with a 20-17 mark. In week one preseason action, his Patriots teams are 6-4. In addition, normally Tom Brady could care less about playing in the preseason. But, this is not a normal year for him. Coming off a year of inaction, he's chomping at the bit and will play in this game. He wants to show everyone, including himself, that he's back. Coming off an 0-4 preseason last year, I look for the Pats to try to have added incentive win this year. I have an NFL-X system that backs teams that had a bad preseason last year that applies in this game. The system is 15-4 ATS including 5-1 the past three seasons. I'll take New England with the points in this one.