The Philadelphia Eagles will begin the defence of their Super Bowl crown on Thursday Night Football when they host their NFC East rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, at Lincoln Financial Field on opening night.
It has been almost seven months since the Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans to win their second Super Bowl in seven years, but the new NFL season is now finally upon us and expectations for the Eagles are sky-high as the hunters have now become the hunted.
Omens favour Philadelphia heading into their opening game. Since the year 2000, the Super Bowl winners are 20-5 in Week One the following season, and the Eagles will no doubt be looking to make a statement and get off to a good start, given that their following four games come against playoff teams (Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Denver Broncos).
As for the Cowboys, it has been a tumultuous offseason which has seen changes at head coach and both offensive and defensive coordinator positions, as well as the departure of their star player Micah Parsons just one week before the commencement of the new season.
It'll be a new look Dallas team compared to the one we've become accustomed to watching in recent seasons, but the fans of America's Team will still expect new head coach Brian Schottenheimer and his players to be competitive and push for a spot in the postseason.
The Eagles won both meetings between the teams last season as they put on a show at AT&T Stadium in Week 10 and posted a 34-6 win, before securing an even bigger 41-7 win over the Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field in Week 17.
Injury Report
Philadelphia Eagles
The only non-participant in Tuesday's practice for Philadelphia was their second-string quarterback Tanner McKee, who missed out due to a right thumb injury. If McKee is unable to play, it will be Sam Howell, recently acquired from the Minnesota Vikings via trade, who will assume the backup quarterback role.
Both Jalen Carter and Landon Dickerson were noted as dealing with shoulder and back injuries, respectively, but both were full participants in practice and are expected to be fully fit and ready to play come Thursday night.
Dallas Cowboys
Like the Eagles, Dallas also only had one player who was listed as a non-participant in practice on both Monday and Tuesday, as defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey was absent due to a back injury and is therefore a doubt for the season opener.
Some much-needed good news for Cowboy fans, however, is that after missing the final nine games last season with a hamstring injury, quarterback Dak Prescott is set to make his return to action having fully recovered. Both Tyler Guyton and Trevon Diggs were listed on the injury report as dealing with knee injuries, but both were full participants in practice on Monday and Tuesday and are therefore set to play on Thursday night.
Key Players
Saquon Barkley (RB) - Philadelphia Eagles
At the heart of the Eagles' frightening offense is Saquon Barkley, who is coming off a historic debut season in Philadelphia.
He rushed for 2,005 yards - only 100 yards away from breaking Eric Dickerson's long-standing rushing record - as well as 13 touchdowns in the regular season, before adding a further 499 rushing yards and five touchdowns in the postseason to help secure his first Super Bowl ring in his first season with the franchise.
He is set to face a Dallas team that struggled to stop the run last season, ranking 29th in the NFL in rushing defense. To make matters even worse for the Cowboys, they are now also without their star edge rusher Parsons to help against the run, a prospect Barkley will certainly be licking his lips over.
CeeDee Lamb (WR) - Dallas Cowboys
With Parsons now a member of the Green Bay Packers, the two faces of the Cowboys franchise are Prescott and his key weapon on the outside, CeeDee Lamb.
Lamb is coming off the back of his fourth-straight season with over 1,000 receiving yards - even after missing two games last season through injury - but he will now finally have a running mate to take some of the attention away from him after the Cowboys acquired George Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers in the offseason.
While it'll be a tough matchup on Thursday night, Lamb will be going up against a relatively inexperienced cornerback room following the departure of the former All-Pro corner Darius Slay Jr. Both Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell are only heading into their second years in the league after impressive rookie seasons, but are set to have a long night on their hands dealing with one of the NFL's best receivers.
Where and When
The game will be played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday 3rd September. The game will kick-off at 20:20 ET/17:20 PT/01:20 BST.
How to Watch
The game will be broadcast live on NBC for the American audience, while viewers in the United Kingdom will be able to watch the game on the Sky Sports Main Event channel.