GAMES 1-4
Week 1: Vs Washington Redskins
Week 2: @ Atlanta Falcons
Week 3: Vs Detroit Lions
Week 4: @ Green Bay Packers
The Eagles open the season at home against the Washington Redskins and of course, the last time this happened, Carson Wentz and Nelson Agholor torched the defense to kickstart a Super Bowl run. This should be an explosive season opener that sees the season started with a win and it’s imperative that it is.
Facing two (arguably three) of the league’s top 10 quarterbacks over the next three weeks will be a real challenge. For the third year in a row now, Atlanta will look to give the Eagles all they can handle, before fixtures with Matt Stafford and Aaron Rodgers promise to really put the pressure on what looks to be one of the league’s top pass-rushes. If the Eagles can get out of the opening quarter with a 2-2 record, that has to be the minimum expectation here. Anything less is nowhere near good enough, but expecting a 4-0 run may be a little too dreamy…for now.
GAMES 5-9
Week 5: Vs New York Giants
Week 6: @ Minnesota Vikings
Week 7: @ Dallas Cowboys
Week 8: @ Buffalo Bills
Week 9: Vs Chicago Bears
That road stretch may seem relatively easy, but back-to-back games away from home are always tricky, and when you have two extremely tough defenses that are going to really wear you down, attrition will come into play here.
Getting a win against the Giants will be absolutely vital and if the Eagles can walk into Minnesota and walk out with yet another reason that Vikings fans have a sour taste in their mouths, then that can only be seen as a positive.
Buffalo will be an intriguing game, just as it always is. Can the Eagles defense contain Josh Allen’s scrambling ability? Just how good is that defense? It’s the sort of bogey game that most contenders will drop, especially if Minnesota and Dallas play Philadelphia like they usually do, by throwing everything they have and then some, demanding nothing less than 100%. The Eagles will be wary and ripe for the picking if they take a loss in those former games, but can Josh Allen step up?
The Eagles have shown that they can take Chicago down to the wire, with the help of Nick Foles…but with Carson Wentz at the helm and a pass-rush that’s even fiercer than last year, will Mitchell Trubisky really have a chance now that his former teammate is lining up on the other sideline, keeping him off the field and forcing him to keep up the pace?
