Philadelphia Eagles at Baltimore Ravens
Saturday, August 15, 2026
7:00 PM ET, M&T Bank Stadium
This is one of the more interesting spread setups on the Saturday preseason board, and the value is on the home dog.
The Eagles are laying 3.5 at Baltimore with a total sitting in the 36.5 to 37.5 range depending on where you shop. This line opened with the Eagles as 2.5-point favorites and has been bet up a full point to Eagles -3.5. Preseason spreads that move a full point in the road favorite’s direction tend to create value on the home team getting points, and this game has more reasons than most.
Let’s start with the biggest storyline in Baltimore.
Jesse Minter is making his NFL head coaching debut on Saturday. This is his first game in charge at any level in the NFL. The Ravens fired John Harbaugh on January 6, 2026 after 18 seasons and an 8-9 campaign that saw Baltimore miss the playoffs for the first time since 2021. Two weeks later, the franchise hired Minter — a 42-year-old former Chargers defensive coordinator who had also been a Ravens defensive assistant from 2017 to 2020. He’s the fourth head coach in franchise history, and he’s stepping onto the M&T Bank Stadium sideline as the boss for the very first time.
First-year head coaches in their preseason home opener have a specific kind of energy. They want to set a tone. They want to show ownership, players, and the fan base that this team looks and plays different than what came before. Minter comes from the defensive side, spent two years running one of the top scoring defenses in the league at the Chargers, and helped Michigan win a national title in 2023. His entire coaching identity is built around discipline, tackling, and physicality. That’s the kind of coach who plays his guys longer in preseason to see how they respond in real football situations.
On the other sideline is Nick Sirianni, entering year six with the Eagles and coming off a Super Bowl LIX championship. Sirianni has had one of the most successful five-year runs of any head coach in NFL history — 65 wins in his first five seasons, tied for third-most all-time with Don Shula. But his preseason approach has always been different than his regular season one. Sirianni’s teams have historically been among the worst in the league at winning preseason games because the head coach doesn’t emphasize them. He’s got his roster largely set, his system installed, and no real interest in risking his starters in an August exhibition.
Add in the layer that Sirianni is working with brand new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion this year — Kellen Moore left to become head coach of the Saints, and Kevin Patullo who ran the offense last year is also gone. When a Super Bowl-winning head coach is installing a new offensive system with a first-year coordinator, the preseason plan almost always involves keeping things vanilla, running base concepts, and protecting the veteran core. That’s not a plan that wins preseason games against a hungry first-year opposing coach.
There’s also the personnel picture in Baltimore that works in the Ravens’ favor for the side. Lamar Jackson only played 13 games in 2025 due to injuries. Every rep for him and the offense during preseason matters, and Minter is going to want to give his starting quarterback a series or two to build back rhythm. When Jackson is on the field in a Ravens uniform, even for a series, they’re a favorite to score. Getting a home dog with the points when their starting QB may see meaningful reps is exactly the kind of value spot to target.
I looked at the total too. The Ravens had the fewest passing targets (407) and fewest completions (278) in the entire NFL in 2025 — they’re a heavy run team and that’s not going away under a defensive-minded head coach. Combine that with the Eagles running a first-year OC’s vanilla playcalling, and the case for the Under is legitimate. But the side has the clearer situational edge with a first-year home coach up against a Super Bowl-winning veteran who historically checks out in August.
The Pick: Baltimore Ravens +3.5
