(Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
For the first time ever, the Eagles will open the NFL season on a Thursday night as defending Super Bowl champions. In a game that will certainly feature a lot of emotion, it will be the Eagles looking to avoid the let down game, which the Patriots had opening night last year against the Chiefs. An opening night game at home against the Falcons is no easy task. However, compared to the rest of the schedule it isn’t even close to the hardest game. The Eagles face one of their most difficult schedules in recent memory.
A schedule that includes away games against the Rams, Saints and a matchup in London vs the Jags certainly will not be a walk in the park. If you throw in a couple home games against the Vikings and Panthers, it makes for one very challenging schedule for the defending champions. This is what makes the first month of the Eagles season so crucial. I am going to make a prediction that Wentz won’t be back until the Eagles play the Vikings the first week of October. In that scenario, Foles would go up against the Falcons, Bucs, Colts, and Titans in September.
The Eagles need to come away with a 3-1 record in that stretch. At the very least, they have to be 2-2 going into October. Nick Foles needs to come up as large as he did in the Super Bowl to not encumber Wentz and his knee when he returns. Foles has been atrocious all preseason long. So the “Good” Nick Foles has to be due to show up tomorrow, right? Well, he better. The Falcons defense flies around the ball and their defensive line has a ton of speed.
Foles will have Peters and Sproles back. He will also get Nelson Agholor, Corey Clement and Jay Ajayi back. Important players who weren’t there for him in the preseason. As we saw last year, the Eagles have the weapons to make life without Carson Wentz do-able. Now the only question is, do we get Raiders/Cowboys game Nick from last year? Or, do we get playoffs and Super Bowl Nick from last year? Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.
