Eagles-Vikings Week 7 odds preview: The Birds are a favorite, but don't exactly look it

The Eagles enter Week 7 a pretty undeniable mess. They got embarrassed by the rival New York Giants on Thursday night in primetime, 34-17. Their offense has become entirely uninventive and predictable, their defense can hardly get off the field because of it, and to make it worse, the unit that last year ranked as one of the best and meanest in the league is now getting pushed around. The signs have always been there since the season started, but some close to straight-up miraculous wins were able to mask them. The past two weeks, though, haven't been keeping them hidden. The Eagles are vulnerable. The Minnesota Vikings, who are on deck for them this week at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, see it. For now, sportsbooks have the Eagles as a favorite for this Sunday but the Birds need to clean themselves up and fast. Here's a look at the betting odds, money lines, and total points over/unders for Week 7: *Lines as of Tuesday, Oct. 14 The Eagles' problems and concerns have been well-documented in the past few weeks. Here's a quick rundown... • They're banged up, critically, along the offensive and defensive lines• Saquon Barkley just hasn't been anywhere close to that same always-on, big run threat that he was last season• The offense overall has seemed to lose all creativity and cohesion in the switch from Kellen Moore to Kevin Patullo as its coordinator, which also seems to have seeded some major frustration among its biggest playmakers in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith• Defensively, the Eagles are also weak at corner and weak on the edge, which isn't helped by Za'Darius Smith's sudden retirement on Monday• Going on seven weeks in and still relatively fresh off a Super Bowl title, the team is still talking about finding an identity None of it looks or sounds good right now. And sure, they're still 4-2, and last year's Eagles were very shaky for a while...but the 2023 Eagles also started 10-1 with some of the same problems the team has right now, and they couldn't sustain it. They spiraled, and unless the 2025 Eagles can get their act together quick, the Vikings are a team that can accelerate that descent. Coming off a Week 6 bye, Minnesota's defense is allowing the sixth-fewest yards per game at an average of 289.8 and the second-fewest passing yards per game in the league at 157.6. There might finally be opportunity for Barkley and the Eagles on the ground, as the Vikings have been allowing an average of 132.2 rushing yards per game, but the problem so far has been that they have had their shots already, and still haven't gotten going. MORE EAGLESEagles edge defender Za'Darius Smith abruptly announces retirementThe Eagles have gone from bullies to bullied in the trenchesDiagnosing the Eagles' issues after a two-game losing streak On the other side for Minnesota, they'll be coming in with a pass-catching trio of superstar wideout Justin Jefferson, another playmaking receiver in Jordan Addison, and a reliable tight end who can take his space in the middle in T.J. Hockenson. With the current state of the Eagles' defensive backfield, that'd be a lot for them to handle even with a fully healthy Quinyon Mitchell presumably taking on Jefferson. Mitchell, however, suffered a hamstring injury in last Thursday's loss to the Giants, and depending on his status, a much harder time could be awaiting the Philly secondary, doubly so if starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy is deemed ready to play again for the Vikings, too. It might be another rough week for the Birds. SIGN UP HERE to receive the PhillyVoice Sports newsletter Follow Nick on Twitter: @itssnick Follow Nick on Bluesky: @itssnick Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports