Only in the National Football League does the release of a team’s schedule send waves across the nation. The Philadelphia Eagles are now a full offseason removed from spending the summer as Super Bowl champions, but a quick look at the 16 games for 2019 shows you that the NFL expects the Eagles to remain amongst the top teams in the league. (Schedule below courtesy of Philadelphia Eagles’ website).
There are five primetime games on the slate, tied for the most among all of the teams for next season – a Week 2 matchup in Atlanta, a Week 4 matchup at Green Bay on Thursday Night Football, a Week 7 clash in Dallas, a Week 12 game against the visiting Seattle Seahawks, and a Monday Night game against the New York Giants in Week 14.
The Eagles play all three teams they beat to win their first Super Bowl title in 2017; there’s a road matchup against Matt Ryan/Julio Jones early on, then another away game against Minnesota in Week 6, and then a matchup with the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in Week 11.
Carson Wentz has never played the Patriots, and it’s a pretty safe bet that this will be the first and only time he ever gets to play Tom Brady. Or maybe not, given Brady’s refusal to start declining and the fact that a Super Bowl rematch between these two teams is never out of the possibility. Doug Pederson famously outcoached Bill Belichick last time the two teams met, and this time he gets the added benefit of an extra week off before the game – just like the Super Bowl. You can circle that game on your schedule right now.
Additionally, Wentz squares up against two other future Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson. Rodgers has never lost to the Eagles in three regular season starts or one playoff start, and Wilson is undefeated in three lifetime games as well. Wentz has squared off once against each quarterback and lost both times. With both games on primetime football, it provides Wentz with an incredible opportunity to prove that he deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as these two elite signal-callers.
The Eagles start the season against Washington, and the last time the Eagles started their season against the Redskins, it resulted in a parade down Broad Street. In typical fashion, the Eagles also close the season with an NFC East opponent, this time a road matchup against a Giants team that should be long eliminated from the postseason race.
It’s a solid schedule but it’s doable. Philadelphia should be able to win both games against a Redskins team that will likely be starting Case Keenum at quarterback. Saquon Barkley ran all over the Eagles in both games last year, but Eli Manning has lost five straight and nine of his last 10 against Philly, and he won’t have Odell Beckham, Jr. on his side for these either. And it certainly wouldn’t be Eagles-Cowboys without these two teams meeting on Sunday Night Football, and then a Week 16 game in Philly with the division likely on the line. Remarkably, the Eagles close out the season with four consecutive division matchups.
The toughest aspect will be surviving an early-season schedule that has the Eagles playing three road games in a 15-day span, the third one coming on primetime football against one of the greatest quarterbacks of our generation. If all goes according to plan, it’s reasonable to think the Eagles will win double-digit games and be hosting a playoff matchup come January 2020.
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