NFL Football

2025-10-05 - Denver Broncos at Philadelphia Eagles

A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown

Denver Broncos @ Philadelphia Eagles
United States : NFL Week 5
Sunday 5th October 2025 - Scheduled 1pm
6pm (British Time)

Preview

Any team holding a perfect record through four weeks of the regular season have to be considered a good one, but there feels something a little underwhelming about the Philadelphia Eagles (4-0). The concern for the rivals who want to take the Super Bowl crown from the Eagles heads is that there was room for improvement midway through last season before Philadelphia really picked up their levels and ultimately won it all.

No one around the Eagles camp will be too concerned, but you have to accept that they are very fortunate to have an unbeaten record.

However, they do have some solid wins on the board and that makes Philadelphia dangerous if they are winning games without being at their best.

Next up is a game against the Denver Broncos (2-2) who ended a run of consecutive defeats by blowing out the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football. The short week is not ideal, but Head Coach Sean Payton will have his team well prepared and there are going to be opportunities for Denver to capitalise on.

Sean Payton will want to keep the strong Eagles Offensive unit on the sidelines and the Denver Broncos have prided themselves on being able to run the ball really well behind this Offensive Line. They will have noted some of the early struggles that the Eagles have had up front, and Philadelphia are allowing 4.6 yards per carry in games since the Dallas opener when you could forgive the challenges up front after Jalen Carter was thrown out of the game.

JK Dobbins should be able to have a good game and that is going to be a positive for Quarter Back Bo Nix, who has been given some very strong Receiving options to aid in his development at the position.

This Broncos Offensive Line are not only very strong when it comes to paving the road for the Running Back, but they have given Bo Nix protection. On Monday Night Penalties was the only issue for the Linemen and Sean Payton will have spent some time looking to clear that up with Denver not expected to have much success if they keep penalising themselves.

Bo Nix will have to be careful of this Philadelphia Secondary, which is playing well even when the pass rushers have failed to generate the same kind of penetration into the backfield as last year. He does have players like Courtland Sutton and Troy Franklin who can make plays for him, and Nix will also be much more comfortable if the Broncos establish the run as anticipated.

If the Broncos are moving the ball with some authority, it can only give confidence to the Defensive unit who are considered as good as any other in the NFL.

Lane Johnson is available for the Eagles and he has proven to be a lynchpin on the Offensive Line, although Philadelphia have yet to get the run game going. They are averaging just 3.5 yards per carry and Saquon Barkley has made a quieter start to the season compared with his 2024 numbers, and it all adds up to being another tough day against this Broncos Defensive Line.

Jalen Hurts is another who can make plays with his legs, but the Eagles fans are looking for more out of the passing game- even Receiver AJ Brown has made his feelings clear about that. It hasn't helped that Hurts has been under pressure when dropping back to throw, especially as the team have been forced into third and long spots, and the Quarter Back could have Broncos pass rushers all around him during this game.

The pressure generated up front has been a big help to a solid Denver Secondary and this could be another game in which the Eagles are ultimately falling short of the number of yards the opponent has earned.

Opposing the Super Bowl Champions is never easy, but the Denver Broncos do look the right side with more than a key number 3 worth of points.

They can find a balance Offensively and the Broncos Defensive unit are capable of making some big plays to give the road team every chance of winning this one outright. However, taking the points is sensible in case of a late Field Goal kind of defeat.

Philadelphia could be potentially looking ahead to a Thursday Night Football Divisional game against the New York Giants and have simply not been playing at the level that may be required to beat a solid team like the Broncos.

The Eagles have covered the last five times they have played before a Thursday Night scheduled game, but they are only 7-6 against the spread as the home favourite since the beginning of last season. A blow out would be a surprise considering what we have seen through the first quarter of the new season and the Broncos are playing well enough on both sides of the ball to keep this one competitive.