Predicting the remaining games on the Eagles’ 2020 schedule

With the Philadelphia Eagles coming off their bye week, it’s time for my annual “predict the outcome of the team’s remaining games” post here at Bleeding Green Nation.

Why should you care about this activity, you ask? Well, you might want to consider that I can see into the future.

In 2017, I predicted the Eagles would finish 13-3 and win the Super Bowl. That happened.

In 2018, I predicted the Eagles would make the playoffs and lose to the New Orleans Saints in the Divisional Round. That happened.

In 2019, I predicted the Eagles would finish 9-7. That happened.

Of course, I had the Eagles failing to make the playoffs last year, but ... shut up. It’s still a decent track record!

And now here’s what I’m envisioning for the rest of 2020.

WEEK 10 AT NEW YORK GIANTS

Current opponent record: 2-7

Pick: Eagles lose, drop to 3-5-1

A loss to the Giants?! It’s very unlike me to think the Eagles are going to lose to a team they’ve thoroughly owned for so long now. But the G-Men came pretty close to beating Philly a few weeks ago. Joe Judge has his players playing hard and methinks they’re going to want this one real bad. The Eagles’ offense looked awful right before the bye and that reality can’t merely be swept under the rug.

WEEK 11 AT CLEVELAND BROWNS

Current opponent record: 5-3

Pick: Eagles win, advance to 4-5-1

The Browns are 1-2 in their last three games and they’ve been outscored 88 to 47 in that stretch. The one victory was a late come-from-behind effort over the Cincinnati Bengals. Baker Mayfield, who was just placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, has been inconsistent and the Eagles could be equipped to slow down Cleveland’s run game. I think the Eagles will go exactly 1-1 in the two games after the bye.

WEEK 12 VS. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

Current opponent record: 6-2

Pick: Eagles lose, drop to 4-6-1

Seattle’s defense is giving up the third most points per game so the Eagles should be able to score on the Seahawks. But 1) we thought the same when the Eagles played Dallas and 2) Doug Pederson’s offenses have typically struggled against Pete Carroll-influenced defenses. Not to mention that Russell Wilson absolutely owns the Eagles. Sure loss.

WEEK 13 AT GREEN BAY PACKERS

Current opponent record: 6-2

Pick: Eagles win, advance to 5-6-1

I think the Eagles are going to find a way to win one of their four games from Week 12 through Week 15. Maybe it’s not this one but for the sake of this exercise I’ll say it is. Two straight seasons with wins at Lambeau Field feels like a tall order but the Packers have some fraud vibes to them. Darius Slay can take away Davante Adams and the Eagles can recreate last year’s game plan that involved running the ball down Green Bay’s throat.

WEEK 14 VS. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Current opponent record: 6-2

Pick: Eagles lose, drop to 5-7-1

The Saints are coming off an impressive blowout win on Sunday Night Football. Prior to that, they played four straight very close games where they looked pretty mortal. In fairness, they didn’t have Michael Thomas for those. His return is obviously a big deal for the New Orleans offense. Malcolm Jenkins is going to pick off Carson Wentz at least once in this game for a Saints win. Not unlike the Seahawks, this is another team that owns the Eagles.

WEEK 15 AT ARIZONA CARDINALS

Current opponent record: 5-3

Pick: Eagles lose, drop to 5-8-1

I’ve had this game marked as a loss ever since the 2020 schedule came out. Playing in Arizona won’t be easy. Kyler Murray is going to scamper around and be a pest for the Eagles’ defense to deal with. The Cardinals’ defense, which ranked 10th in DVOA heading into Week 9, is also an above average unit.

WEEK 16 AT DALLAS COWBOYS

Current opponent record: 2-7

Pick: Eagles win, advance to 6-8-1

Do the Eagles beat the Cowboys in Week 8 if Garrett Gilbert starts instead of Ben DiNucci? Perhaps. But it seems like a fair question to ask. Gilbert brought some level of competency to the Dallas offense against a tough Pittsburgh Steelers defense. And speaking of defense, the Cowboys haven’t been AS been of a train wreck on that side of the ball over the past two games. All of this is hardly to suggest the Cowboys are suddenly good. But this might not be a walk in the park for the Birds. Regardless, I’ll say they win.

WEEK 17 VS. WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM

Current opponent record: 2-6

Pick: Eagles win, advance to 7-8-1

Washington’s defense is good but their offense is not. The Football Team isn’t good enough to sweep the Eagles, who will close out the regular season with a win.

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RECORD PREDICTIONS FOR THE REST OF THE NFC EAST

I already went through this activity in a previous BGN post. Here’s what I came up with:

Giants projected record: 5-11
Football Team projected record: 5-11
Cowboys projected record: 4-12

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PLAYOFFS

The Eagles will enter the playoffs and host Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card round. The Bucs feel like a prime candidate for that spot now that the Saints have a head-to-head tiebreaker over them atop the NFC South.

For as much as I don’t feel great about the Eagles’ outlook, I do have irrational confidence they can win a playoff game. But only one. They’ll beat the Bucs and then lose to the Seahawks in the divisional round.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

I feel like I skewed towards the optimistic side in my prediction. I toyed with giving them another loss to have them finish at 6-9-1. I could see that happening before I could see them finishing at 8-7-1.

There is certainly reason for optimism heading into the second half. The Eagles are getting healthier. It’s going to be hard for Wentz to continue to be AS bad as he’s been. Doug Pederson typically has this team playing their best football late in the season. The NFC East is so weak that the Eagles might only need two or three more wins to wrap it up.

Then again, it’s also easier to talk yourself into the Eagles after not having watched them played this past weekend. This is a team that ranks 21st in point differential and 28th in DVOA. They’re a far cry away from being legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

We’ll soon see how the second half takes shape.