Eagles vs. Seahawks: Is Philadelphia being underrated? Or is Seattle overrated?

The Philadelphia Eagles have another big game this week. The Birds are scheduled to face the Seattle Seahawks in the friendly confines of Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday later afternoon. It's a match-up between two of the better teams in the NFC. The game will certainly have significant playoff implications, especially as far as seeding goes.

Seattle enter the game with a 8-4 record while Philadelphia is 9-3 after beating the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving. But despite owning the better record and being the home team, the Eagles are not even standard home favorites. The opening line for this week's Eagles-Seahawks game lists Philadelphia as only 1.5 point favorites. That's 1.5 points less than the standard line of three points. In other words, the Eagles aren't getting much respect.

Perhaps the Seattle Seahawks current "hot streak" is being a little overrated. The defending Super Bowl 48 champions are 5-1 in their last six games after suffering a two-game losing streak in mid-October. 5-1 is 5-1, but it isn't exactly like Seattle has been put through the gauntlet.

After losing to the Rams in Week 7, the Seahawks traveled to Carolina where they beat the Panthers in a very ugly game with a final score of 13-9. Then they returned home to beat the lowly Raiders 30-24. Oakland almost recovered an onside kick late in the game to have a chance at the win but they just missed out. Seattle then faced the struggling Giants at home and beat them thoroughly by a score of 38-17. The G-Men made the game close for three quarters (17-17) until Seattle ran away with 21 points in the fourth. Seattle traveled to Kansas City in Week 11 to face a hot Chiefs team and lost by four points. The Seahawks returned home once to beat the Drew Stanton-led Cardinals before going on the road to beat the 49ers on Thanksgiving.

The point here isn't to make Seattle look like a bad team. They're not. They are a good team with a number of talented players, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They're far from unbeatable, however. Consider that the Seahawks have scored an average of 21 points per game in six match-ups on the road this season. Seattle is 3-3 in those games. Meanwhile, the Eagles are 6-0 at home in 2014. Philadelphia is scoring an average of 36.7 points per game. The lowest total points scored by the Birds came in their 27-0 victory over the Giants, where the team took their foot off the gas late in the game. Meanwhile, the highest total point scored by Seattle on the road was 27 against Washington.

Whereas the Seahawks are 5-1 in their last six, the Eagles are 'only' 4-2. The Eagles lost a barn burner in Arizona before rebounding with two sizable wins over the Houston Texans and Carolina Panthers. Then Philadelphia was absolutely crushed by the Green Bay Packers before rebounding with their most recent two wins against the Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys. Philadelphia's win over 8-4 Dallas is certainly a quality victory, and that's a team that the Seahawks couldn't beat despite having home field advantage.

Sunday's Eagles-Seahawks game likely won't be a walk in a park for either side. Again, both teams are good. But it's OK to suggest that Philadelphia has a discernible edge at standard home favorites.