PHILADELPHIA — It is a useless exercise that is commonly practiced all over the country by professional football writers.
The schedule comes out some time in May and writers from the East Coast to the West Coast and all points in between immediately feel the need to predict the outcome of games while analyzing all the minutia involved.
I plead guilty because I cannot deny the mountain of evidence. Here are the May predictions released by myself and colleague Cayden Steele and here is all the minutia I uncovered about the 17 games the Eagles will play this season. I was proud to dig up the fun fact that a Wheel of Fortune host once kicked the Chargers to a win over the Eagles, but beyond that there was nothing written in May about the schedule that couldn’t have waited until right now.
Schedule predictions, in particular, are more interesting right before the season starts than in May because we have a better feel for what every team is about. I, for instance, picked the Cowboys to beat the Eagles in late November, which is something I never would have done if I’d known owner Jerry Jones was going to trade Micah Parsons. I’m also having second thoughts about picking the Chargers over the Eagles knowing that they will be without Pro Bowl left tackle Rashawn Slater the entire year.
Because of things like that, I’m doing a 2.0 version of my Eagles’ game-by-game predictions.
Here is the new version:
Week 1, Thursday, 8:20 p.m.: vs. Cowboys
No Parsons is going to spell trouble for the Cowboys over the long haul, but they were even worse off when they played at Lincoln Financial Field last season without Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. The Cowboys also have George Pickens at wide receiver now and they should be motivated to give a better showing than they did a year ago in Philadelphia when they rolled over in a 41-7 loss. This won’t be as easy as some people think.
Eagles 34, Cowboys 28 (Record: 1-0)
Week 2, Sunday Sept. 14, 4:25 p.m.: at Chiefs
The Eagles and Chiefs are meeting for a remarkable fifth straight time, a record number for teams from opposing conferences, which formed in 1970. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are sure to show up with an edge after being embarrassed by the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, but they won’t have wide receiver Rashee Rice, who was suspended for the first six games because he violated the league’s personal conduct policy.
Chiefs 24, Eagles 22 (1-1)
Week 3, Sunday Sept. 21, 1 p.m.: vs. Rams
The Rams provided the Eagles with their toughest test during the playoffs with veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford taking his team to the 13-yard line before Jalen Carter provided the sack of the season. Saquon Barkley will be going for his third straight 200-yard rushing game against the Rams in this one, but the news that most influenced my prediction here was Stafford’s back injury that kept him sidelined for a large portion of training camp.
Eagles 27, Rams 17 (2-1)
Week 4, Sunday Sept. 28, 1 p.m.: at Buccaneers
This will be the Eagles’ fifth game in Tampa in the last five years and they’ve only won one of them. The big injury questions for the Bucs are wide receiver Chris Godwin and All Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs. Both are likely to be back when the Eagles come to town. Bucs coach Todd Bowles is an outstanding defensive mind and the Bucs have a talented team, but the Eagles’ recent streak of losses makes no sense.
Eagles 27, Buccaneers 24 (3-1)
Week 5, Sunday Oct. 5, 1 p.m.: vs. Broncos
Bo Nix’s 29 TD passes were the second highest total ever for a rookie behind the 31 thrown by the Chargers’ Justin Herbert in 2020. Thanks in large part to Nix and a much-improved defense, second-year coach Sean Payton took the Broncos back to the playoffs for the first time since 2015, which is when they won the franchise’s third Super Bowl title. Eagles should be able to handle their business at home.
Eagles 24, Broncos 17 (Record 4-1)
Week 6, Thursday Oct. 9, 8:15 p.m.: at Giants
The Giants have one of the best defensive lines in the league and they should have a much improved defense, but points are still going to be hard to come by and it won’t matter if Russell Wilson or Jaxson Dart is at quarterback because the offensive line hasn’t been fixed.
Eagles 24, Giants 14 (5-1)
Week 7, Sunday Oct. 19, 1 p.m.: at Vikings
The Vikings have a lot of talent, but we don’t know if J.J. McCarthy is the right quarterback to get the ball to star receiver Justin Jefferson and tight end T.J. Hockenson. The Vikings have a soft early schedule, a tough defense and a bye week before playing the Eagles, so they could come into this game with a lot of confidence.
Vikings 24, Eagles 20 (5-2)
Week 8, Sunday Oct. 26, 1 p.m.: vs. Giants
The Giants have decided that Wilson is their starter to open the season, but by Week 8 it’s quite possible the move to Dart will have been made. If that’s the case you have to love Vic Fangio’s defense against the rookie QB.
Eagles 30, Giants 10 (6-2)
WEEK 9
Bye
Week 10, Monday Nov. 10, 8:15 p.m.: at Packers
The Eagles will get their first glimpse of Parsons in a Packers’ uniform and he could be the missing link for a team that hasn’t had a player reach double digits in sacks since Za’Darius Smith in 2020. The Eagles have won four of the last five meetings with the Packers, but lost the last time they played at Lambeau Field in 2020.
Packers 30, Eagles 23 (6-3)
Week 11, Sunday Nov. 16., 8:20 p.m.: vs. Lions
The Lions are coming off a team record 15-win season that was spoiled by their divisional round playoff loss to the Commanders. Since then, they’ve lost both their offensive and defensive coordinators (Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn) and two starting offensive linemen (Frank Ragnow and Kevin Zeitler).
Eagles 27, Lions 20 (7-3)
Week 12, Sunday Nov. 23, 4:25 p.m: at Cowboys
Prescott did not play either game against the Eagles last season when the Cowboys lost the two games between the teams by a combined 62 points. Prescott is 9-4 with a 66.8 completion percentage and 100.6 passer rating in 13 career starts against the Eagles. He has a five-game winning streak against the Eagles at home and during that streak he has completed 74.6% of his passes for 1,550 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. Still, the loss of Parsons proves too much for the Cowboys to overcome and by this point in the season they will be toast.
Eagles 31, Cowboys 17 (8-3)
Week 13, Friday Nov. 28, 3 p.m.: vs. Bears
Bears fans should be excited about Caleb Williams, especially now that Ben Johnson is paired with him. He looked great in two preseason games and has a chance to be Chicago’s best quarterback since ... Jim McMahon? But the Bears aren’t going to be good enough on defense to win at the Linc.
Eagles 35, Bears 21 (9-3)
Week 14, Monday Dec. 8, 8:15 p.m.: at Chargers
For the second straight season the Eagles are going to play in L.A., but this time it will be against Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers. The Eagles played Harbaugh twice during his four-year stint with the 49ers and lost both games, including a 2011 home game in which they blew a 20-point lead. In his first season with L.A., Harbaugh got the Chargers back to the playoffs with the help of a defense that allowed the fewest point in the league. As mentioned above, the loss of Slater, a two-time Pro Bowler, is huge for the Chargers. In fact, it’s enough to make me change my mind from my May prediction.
Eagles 24, Chargers 21 (10-3)
Week 15, Sunday Dec. 14, 1 p.m.: vs. Raiders
This is the Raiders’ first trip to Philadelphia since moving to Las Vegas. They arrive with a new head coach (Pete Carroll) and a new quarterback (Geno Smith), both of whom most recently worked for the Seahawks. It’s a been a long time since the Raiders had the right mix in charge and bringing in a 73-year-old head coach and a 34-year-old quarterback with zero career playoff wins isn’t the right mix either. I wrote the same thing in May and stand by it.
Eagles 41, Raiders 10 (11-3)
Week 16, Saturday Dec. 20, TBD: at Commanders
The Eagles’ last loss of 2024 was against the Commanders when rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels rallied his team from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit for a 36-33 victory. The 36 points was the most allowed by the Eagles last season. Now, Daniels also has Deebo Samuel as a weapon, which should make the Commanders’ offense even better.
Commanders 30, Eagles 27 (11-4)
Week 17, Sunday Dec. 28, 4:25 p.m.: at Bills
The last time these teams met two years ago at Lincoln Financial Field it was an instant classic with Jalen Hurts accounting for five touchdowns in an Eagles’ come-from-behind overtime victory. The Bills have put up double-digit win totals and been to the playoffs for six straight years, but they have yet to reach the Super Bowl. Facing Josh Allen in Buffalo might qualify as the Eagles’ toughest assignment of the season.
Bills 34, Eagles 23 (11-5)
Week 18, Sunday Jan. 4, TBD: vs. Commanders
In May I had this game deciding the NFC East with the Eagles winning because of Saquon Barkley’s ability to run the football. I’m sticking to that prediction. Barkley ran for more than 100 yards in all three games against the Commanders last season, accumulating a total of 414 yards and seven touchdowns on 70 carries. He also had three catches for 56 yards in the three games.
Eagles 26, Commanders 17 (12-5)
Final record
The 12-5 record won’t look quite as good as the 14-3 mark they put up last season, but it will still impressive against a schedule that includes 11 games against playoff teams. I see the Packers, with the addition of Parsons, being the Eagles’ biggest threat in getting back to the Super Bowl. I’ll predict the Eagles fall short to Green Bay in the NFC Championship at Lambeau Field.
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Bob Brookover can be reached atrbrookover@njadvancemedia.com
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