The Eagles didn’t play their cleanest game in Week 1, but were still able to get out of Brazil with a victory which is always a great way to start a new season. They now will have all eyes on them in their second straight primetime game, hosting the Atlanta Falcons (0-1) on Monday Night Football.
Here are five key matchups to keep an eye out for in this game:
A.J. Brown vs. A.J. Terrell
It’s the battle of the A.J.’s. The Eagles top wideout had no problem succeeding against Green Bay’s Jaire Alexander, or as the kids say, “cooked” Alexander in the Week 1 win. Per NextGen Stats, Brown was shadowed by Alexander 73.9% of his routes, hauling in four catches for 108 yards, highlighted by a 67-yard touchdown catch.
Now Brown will go against Terrell who has made a name for himself over the last three seasons, earning a 4-year, $81 million contract extension right before the season started. The 16th overall pick out of Clemson in the 2020 NFL Draft squared off against Pittsburgh’s George Pickens and struggled to contain the Steelers wideout, allowing Pickens to rack up 85 yards receiving on six catches. He did keep Pickens out of the endzone. However, Brown is more physical, stronger and experienced than Pickens which could set up another big day for Brown, creating more offensive fireworks in front of a packed Lincoln Financial Stadium in the true home debut for Philadelphia.
For fantasy owners and those looking to place some prop bets, Brown is a great place to start.
Jalen Hurts vs. Atlanta’s Defense
It’s safe to say that most of these matchup pieces will feature Hurts and the opposing defense, because after all, the success of the quarterback essentially determines the success of a team in the NFL. While Hurts had his ups and downs in Week 1, he will look to put together a more consistent effort in Week 2 against a Falcons. Atlanta’s defense did a solid job keeping the Steelers in check, allowing 270 yards with just 133 coming through the air in a 16-10 loss at home.
They did face Justin Fields, so the jury is still out on what this Atlanta defense possibly is entering just the second game of the season. However, the Falcons made some big moves to position themselves to have a top defensive unit. They traded a 2025 third-round pick to New England for pass rusher Matthew Judon and then followed that up a day later with inking former Broncos’ safety and possible Eagles’ target Justin Simmons to a one-year, $8 million deal.
Couple that with new head coach Raheem Morris, a defensive minded coach who has spent the bulk of his career in the NFL coaching the defensive side of the ball. Morris most recently served as the Rams defensive coordinator from 2021-23 before taking over in Atlanta. Morris likes to play more zone with his defenses, so Hurts will need to find the openings when presented.
There’s not much of a track record for Hurts against Atlanta, but he did torch the Falcons back in the 2021 season opener down in Atlanta. Hurts went 27-for-35 for 264 yards and three passing touchdowns while not throwing an interception and posted a 126.4 QB rating. He also added 62 yards with his legs on seven carries. That will be a performance the Eagles and fans would love to see to help the Eagles start off the year 2-0.
Quinyon Mitchell vs. Drake London
Philadelphia’s defense was one of the main reasons why they are 1-0 to start the season. The unit found ways to get stops and at times played with tenacity and athleticism that showed potential as the year progresses. One individual who possess and showed his potential was Quinyon Mitchell. The rookie played a very solid game going up against the talented trio wide receivers Green Bay has. Here’s a thread on some of his positive plays in the win.
If Mitchell stays as the outside cornerback, he will be going up against the Falcons’ No.1 wideout in Drake London. The eighth overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of USC has been pegged as a breakout candidate this year with the addition of new quarterback Kirk Cousins. In 33 career games, he’s hauled in 141 catches for 1,771 yards to go along with six scores. He was held in check though in Week 1, seeing just three targets, catching two of them for 15 yards.
Atlanta has already said it did not get their top target involved in the loss, so expect more targets heading his way. Can Mitchell pass another early test in his career?
Eagles Defense vs. Kirk Cousins
It’s becoming a yearly event for Cousins to visit South Philly as this will be the third straight home opener for the Eagles that the opposing quarterback is Cousins. Everyone remembers last year’s home opener against the Vikings. The wily vet carved up the Eagles secondary for 364 yards and four touchdowns to no interceptions, good for a QB rating of 125.6. If it wasn’t for the four fumbles lost by Minnesota, that game could’ve been ugly for the Eagles.
Atlanta paid Kirk Cousins handsomely this offseason, to the tune of $180 million over four years with a $50 million bonus and $100 million guaranteed. He had a dud of a game in Week 1 against the Steelers completing 16 of his 26 passes for just 155 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He has a chance to rebound against a team he has had solid success against.
The familiar veteran will once again return to the Linc in primetime and will look to bounce back from his less than stellar outing last week. Despite well-documented struggles in primetime games, he owns a 6-5 record against the Birds, with a respectable 26 to 9 touchdown to interception ratio and throwing for over 3,300 yards in those 11 games. Cousins will look to take advantage of an Eagles’ defense still finding its way under first-year defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
We saw the Eagles send blitzes and pressure in Week 1 to pressure the young Jordan Love. Fangio and the defense may need to be more selective on when they want to try and attack the 13-year vet in this one.
Eagles’ Pass Rushers vs. Falcons O-Line
The field in Brazil certainly had issues, warranting plenty of complaints on social media with the number of players slipping on the grass. It certainly seems that it was a factor that the Eagles pass rush was noticeably nonexistent. How will that change now that they will be in their friendly confines?
Newly added Bryce Huff, who the Eagles spent a good chunk of money on to be the next pass rusher for this team, was nonexistent and already fighting for playing time according to Fangio.
After watching what the Falcons and Cousins did offensively last week, it’s clear that they like to run a ton of plays out of shotgun, with little to no deception pre snap and Cousins didn’t seem comfortable in the pocket. This could bode very well for the Eagles who can feed off of the home crowd energy on big third downs to get off the field.
The Eagles recorded just two sacks against the Packers. Don’t be surprised if Jalen Carter, Josh Sweat, hopefully Huff and another linebacker like Zack Baun gets past this mediocre offensive line for Atlanta and takes down Cousins.
The Eagles will look to start the season off 2-0 with a win Monday night with kickoff scheduled for 8:15 p.m.
Photo Credit: REUTERS/Carla Carniel
