Today is a huge game for the Philadelphia Eagles.
There’s a lot on the line in their home opener against the New York Giants. An Eagles win means being 2-1 and in first place of the NFC East. It would also mean essentially ending the Giants’ season in Week 3. A loss to a winless New York team, on the other hand, would lead to a very ugly week of aftermath.
The pressure is on.
Speaking of pressure, the Eagles are going to need to generate a lot of that today. The good news is that Philadelphia should be able to do it. Their defensive line has been ferocious through two games so far. Now the Eagles are facing the worst offensive line they’ve played against this season.
Forcing Eli Manning into making bad decisions will be paramount considering the state of the Eagles’ secondary. Philadelphia is likely starting rookie cornerback Rasul Douglas at outside cornerback. The Eagles will potentially be down to their fourth string safety next to Malcolm Jenkins with Rodney McLeod unlikely to play.
On offense, the Eagles need a strong effort from Carson Wentz. It seems unlikely that the Birds will be able to run all over the Giants. Philly’s run game isn’t that strong to begin with and New York has some really good run defenders on their defense (Damon Harrison, Dalvin Tomlinson, etc.) This is a key spot for Wentz to step up and prove his critics wrong.
In the same vein, this is also a really big game for Doug Pederson. The Eagles head coach has faced no shortage of scrutiny through only two weeks of the season.
There’s no good reason for the Eagles to lose this game. They’re the better team. If they play like they did in the first two weeks, I can’t see how they lose. New York isn’t very good. The Giants might be desperate, yeah, but the Eagles should be fired up for this one. It’s the home-opener. The G-Men are playing on short rest after losing on Monday Night Football.
Today’s game might not be pretty. That’s OK. The Eagles don’t need to score style points in this one. They just need to take care of business and put the Giants away.
On paper, I feel good about their chances. But the Birds need to go out and prove it.
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Score prediction:
Bold prediction:
My predictions:
Score prediction: Eagles win, 21-14.
Bold prediction: Eli Manning gets sacked eight times.
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