We are so back.

Football returns on Thursday night as two NFC East foes head to the gridiron for the curtain-raiser on the 2025 campaign.

It’s real football to wager on; rejoice!

The reigning champion Eagles will play host to the Cowboys as 8.5-point favorites. Philadelphia has taken money in the early betting, as this line opened at 7.

Below, we break down our best betting strategies for Thursday’s big game.

The backup to MVP candidate Saquon Barkley, Will Shipley, should be able to let loose at least a few times on the Micah Parsons-less Cowboys defense.

Dallas allowed 4.8 yards per carry last season, an absolute nightmare spot for the Cowboys as they face the league’s fourth-best rushing attack (five yards per carry).

The thought behind targeting Shipley as a legitimate option in the run game is mostly a bet against the Cowboys making this a close game (more on that later).

Philadelphia has a strong offensive line, as we know, but there’s more to that as well.

In games where Shipley received at least one carry, he went over this total in four of six games.

Of important note, if he doesn’t play a snap, the bet is void.

Dak Prescott doesn’t run like he used to.

Once considered a strong runner early in his career, that’s not really the case anymore after multiple leg injuries.

To end last season, Prescott attempted more than one rushing attempt only once in his last five games before another injury ended his season prematurely.

This year, I suspect that the Cowboys will run the ball even less now that they have brought in enigmatic receiver George Pickens.

Importantly, a loss makes it increasingly unlikely that the Cowboys will be kneeling, which does count as a rushing attempt even though you lose two yards.

The line for this game has gotten out of whack. Seven points was a fine wager, but let’s think back to the column I put out last week about betting on Week 1 betting trends.

Favorites lie.

Week 1 underdogs are 175-155-14 against the spread since 2000.

Moreover, divisional underdogs are 37-15-1 in week 1 since 2014.

That’s not to say that the Cowboys will win, but I think they have a decent chance of keeping this one close.

My model has the projected score of 20.81 to 27.26. The negative juju surrounding the team feels like it has gone too far.

The initial line of seven was about right, and the move to 9.5 on BetMGM is far enough to get me to bite.

Target the Cowboys against the spread to keep this one close, and let’s see if the Cowboys’ passing offense is as highly thought of as it had previously been projected.

PICK: Cowboys +9.5 (-118, BetMGM)

Erich Richter is a brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt but he has a black belt in MMA betting. During the football season he’s showcased massive profits at The Post in the player prop market the last two seasons. While constantly betting long shots, his return on investment is 30.15 percent since 2022.