NFL Week 5 began on Thursday Night Football with an upset victory by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the Dallas Cowboys, and the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars will jump-start Sunday’s action in London. The Jaguars are 7.5-point favorites against the injured and downward-spiraling Eagles.
Jacksonville has played like a Super Bowl contender, while Philadelphia has played sloppily, and they’ll be without integral players, such as recently retired Lane Johnson, traded Cam Jurgens, Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby at running back and DeVonta Smith at wide receiver.
The Jaguars have a stout defense that should give the Eagles fits. Given Jacksonville’s high-caliber defense and the likelihood of Philadelphia being in a negative game script, two player props stand out as exciting, leaning into those game-state expectations.
NFL Week 5: International Series (London) Best Player Props
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Will Shipley Under 36.5 Rushing Yards (-125) at BetMGM
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Jalen Hurts Over 0.5 Interceptions (-130) at Hard Rock Bet
Will Shipley (Philadelphia Eagles – RB)
Will Shipley is the only healthy running back for the Eagles who has carried the ball this year without Barkley and Bigsby. Shipley has carried the ball 15 times for 51 yards, 3.40 yards per carry, 2.00 yards before contact per attempt, 1.40 yards after contact per attempt, zero explosive runs, a 40.0% success rate, a 46.7% stuff rate and -10.9 rush yards over expectation.
Shipley is a third-string running back now tasked with running behind an offensive line without Johnson at right tackle, a franchise pillar, and Jurgens at center after the former retired this week and the latter was traded. Even if the Eagles have a surprisingly plucky showing and end up in a positive game script, Shipley will find the sledding tough, saying nothing of a brutal matchup.
The Jaguars have allowed the fewest rushing yards per game (47.5) and yards per carry (2.84) to running backs this season. Jonah Coleman’s 39 rushing yards are the most by a running back against the Jaguars this season, and that was in Jacksonville’s only loss.
The Eagles also signed Dameon Pierce from the practice squad to their active roster, and Philadelphia could call up Jaydon Blue from their practice squad. Shipley isn’t even a shoo-in to handle a large workload as a runner, as Pierce could split early-down work with him and Blue could be called up to be used as a change-of-pace option.
Shipley is unlikely to be only the second running back this season to exceed 36.5 rushing yards against the Jaguars on Sunday morning, making his under for 36.5 rushing yards one of the most appealing player props in this contest.
Jalen Hurts has frequently put the ball in harm’s way this season, and the Jaguars can punish him for it with an interception.
Jalen Hurts (Philadelphia Eagles – QB)
The -130 odds for Jalen Hurts to throw an interception offered at Hard Rock Bet are the best across sportsbooks, but his -133 odds at the more widely available DraftKings Sportsbook are also appealing.
Philadelphia’s starting quarterback is in a funk. The 28-year-old quarterback has thrown three interceptions this season, tossing at least one in two of four games. Among 33 quarterbacks with at least 50 dropbacks this year, Hurts is fifth in turnover-worthy-throw rate (5.3%).
The Jaguars are equipped to punish Hurts for putting the ball in harm’s way. Jacksonville is tied for first in interceptions this year with six.
They can also heat up Hurts behind his makeshift offensive line. The Jaguars rank 12th in pressure rate (36.5%) this season. Add in that Hurts will likely be forced to press it in comeback mode, and he’s likely to throw an interception on Sunday morning in the next installment of the NFL International Series.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com