The Eagles are just a few short hours away from an MNF showdown against a team they can just never seem to get past. Will tonight be any different? Here are five bold predictions!
Absolute sh*thousery
The Eagles have not beaten the Seahawks since 2008 and I think we can all agree are hardly in a position to break that cycle tonight. Russell Wilson has owned the Eagles in the four games he’s played against them – tossing 7 passing TDs, 1 interception, and averaging over 240 yards per game. With the Eagles looking like they’re about to fall apart at the seams against one of their biggest bogey teams, is this not the perfect spot for a shock win?
They did it against the Packers last year, the Rams and Texans in the year before that, and we all remember Super Bowl 52. You can follow this trend back to 2015 when Sam Bradford somehow overthrew Tom Brady. The Eagles have a habit of dropping the most winnable fixtures possible and somehow winning ones they have absolutely no business in winning. I am here for that content.
My first bold prediction is simple enough – the Eagles win.
Everybody hurts
With reports that Jalen Hurts will see a ‘career-high’ in snaps tonight (an almighty 7 to beat!), there’s a chance we’re beginning to see a slight QB controversy. The question now becomes whether or not Hurts will actually throw a pass or simply run another 10 read-options and hope for the best.
I’d like to think that after increased reps with the first team, the Eagles do start to deploy Hurts as a passer more regularly. If that’s the case and Hurts can pick up some momentum in the event Wentz struggles, is it hard to imagine him staying on the field while he’s hot?
I’m going to predict that Hurts scores his first NFL touchdown tonight. It’s probably going to be a read-option, but we can all dream of a play-action pass to Reagor who flies to the endzone….right?
Eagles find the formula to stop Kryptonite
If there’s one glaring weakness on this Eagles defense, it’s mobile quarterbacks. Hello Russell Wilson. If Daniel Jones can slice through the heart of this defense like a hot knife through butter, I can’t say I have high hopes for how they’ll handle Russell Wilson. However, there’s been one big change since that game – the rise of Alex Singleton.
He hasn’t missed a snap over the course of the last two weeks and has led the team in tackles on both occasions. Singleton has proven to be a menace in opposing backfields and has been a night-and-day improvement over Nate Gerry.
While he won’t be the man solely responsible for containing one of the most dangerously athletic quarterbacks in the NFL, I think he can play a big role in holding him to under 30 rushing yards.
Every Eagles CB has its Slay
Darius Slay has been exceptional for the Eagles this year, but he now faces a freak of nature in D.K Metcalf. He’s 6’4, runs like a blazing slot wideout, and has the physicality of a heavyweight boxer. Metcalf has 9 touchdowns on the year and his 18 yards per reception rank third in the NFL. Ah.
At 6’0, Slay might have a slight size mismatch here, but we know he has the speed and hustle to at least stay in the hunt on each route. My penultimate bold prediction is that Slay finally gets his first interception of the season and holds Metcalf to a season-low 20 yards.
Bucking the trend
The Seahawks have the third-best run defense in the NFL and the Eagles don’t run the ball. It makes perfect sense for Doug Pederson to do nothing but run the ball here then. Joking aside, I think there’s a strong chance we see some more of Miles Sanders being used as a receiving option out of the backfield.
Kenyan Drake had 31 receiving yards against the Seahawks last week and just two games before, Devin Singletary and Zack Moss both had 30+ of their own.
The Eagles would be wise to get Sanders involved in the passing game. He had 116 receiving yards all year after amassing 509 in his rookie year. Sanders and his versatility were a huge reason the Eagles caught fire at the end of last season and they’re going to need some of that magic tonight.
My final bold prediction is for Miles Sanders to amass 50 receiving yards, a season-high.
Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire
