Sunday’s divisional round doubleheader opens in Philadelphia, where the Eagles host the Los Angeles Rams.
The pregame narrative: Tyler Higbee was one of my favourite players to target last week, and I’m happily going back to the well in this matchup. On the Eagles’ side, I think DeVonta Smith is a reasonable play to fade.
Check out my Rams vs. Eagles prop picks for the divisional round.
Rams vs. Eagles prop picks
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Best bet: Higbee over 24.5 receiving yards (-122)
How could I not go back to this prop bet?
Ahead of last week’s wild-card matchup in Minnesota, I highlighted Tyler Higbee over 24.5 receiving yards as one of my favourite prop picks.
How’d that go? Well, he had five catches for 58 yards in the first quarter alone.
Higbee left the game in the second quarter due to a chest injury, and he actually had to take a quick trip to the hospital, too.
But he practiced every day this week, logging a full practice on Friday. And he doesn’t carry an injury designation into Sunday’s game.
If you’d told me Higbee would miss almost 75% of the game against the Vikings, I would’ve expected him to whiff on this yardage total. But his early involvement last week indicates how important he is to the Rams’ offence.
Last year, Higbee hit this yardage milestone in five straight games down the stretch prior to suffering a knee injury on his first target in the wild-card round.
When he’s healthy, the Rams go to him.
Philadelphia allowed the fewest yards to opposing tight ends this year (34.8/game), which is my only hangup. But the loss of linebacker Nakobe Dean makes the defence more vulnerable in Higbee’s area of the field.
Key stat: Higbee has 10 catches for 104 yards and a touchdown over his past two games.
Quick picks
Smith under 52.5 receiving yards (-114): This is more of a narrative/game script play than I might typically indulge in, but I think the Eagles can skate by on Sunday without much output from Smith.
For one thing, they already have done that this year. Smith was out in Week 12 when Philly rolled over L.A., 37-20.
The Eagles had over 300 rushing yards in that game, and another run-heavy offensive game plan would make a lot of sense versus a Rams squad that allows 4.6 yards per carry (26th in the NFL).
Furthermore — and this is where we really get into the narrative weeds — maybe Philly looks to get A.J. Brown more involved on Sunday.
Brown’s primary highlight last weekend was a visual of him reading a book on the sidelines amid a one-catch, 10-yard performance.
Smith has gone under this yardage total in four of his past seven games.
Picks made at 1:50 p.m. ET on 01/18/2025.
Jordan enjoys writing data-driven game previews and analysis articles — especially for MLB markets or NFL/NBA props. And as a proud Ohio University grad, he’ll always have a soft spot for college sports (especially if the Bobcats are involved). Previous stops include mlb.com, Sportsnet and The Athletic.