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NFL Odds And Lines Week 5: Eagles Vs. Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers return three important players from injury after a bye week when they face the Philadelphia Eagles at home, leading oddsmakers to give them a roughly 3-point edge in the matchup.

Justin K. Aller - Getty Images

After a week off, the Pittsburgh Steelers return to action with Rashard Mendenhall, James Harrison, and Troy Polamalu healthy, leaving them as favorites by about a field goal in their matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Although the Eagles might have a 3-1 record with wins over Baltimore and the New York Giants, they still have far from a convincing resume: their largest margin of victory thus far came in Sunday's two-point win over the New York Giants, and all of their wins have required a late scoring drive. While the Steelers' performance hasn't been optimal through three games, they hope to come back from their bye week as a revamped team: Mendenhall should transform a run game that has been one of the least effective in the league with Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer carrying the load, while Polamalu and Harrison are both multiple time All-Pro players who can help stabilize a defense that allowed 34 points to the Oakland Raiders in their last matchup.

With the game at Pittsburgh, the Steelers opened as 2.5-point favorites, but the line has moved to as much as 3.5 in some books as the injury picture became clearer. The over/under opened at 44.5, which seems high considering the Eagles are the league's second lowest-scoring team.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.