The last Sunday without NFL football until February is now behind us.
Week 1 is here!
And for the Philadelphia Eagles, that means they’re in the bright spotlight of the NFL Kickoff Game after winning a second Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Their opponent: the dastardly Dallas Cowboys.
The team with the longest streak of failing to merely appear in the NFC Championship Game will bear witness to the Eagles raising their Super Bowl LIX banner at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday evening.
The Birds are currently entering this NFC East rivalry matchup as 7.5 -point home favorites, according to FanDuel.
That’s just slightly more than the Kenny Pickett-led Eagles were favored (-7) against the Cooper Rush-led Cowboys in Week 17 last season.
Unlike in that game, Dallas will have Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb available for them this time. As such, the Cowboys’ offense figures to provide much more of a challenge. In addition to dealing with that duo, the Eagles also now have to account for offseason trade acquisition George Pickens. Philly’s shaky CB2 situation will be put to the test.
Of course, it remains to be seen if the Cowboys can properly protect Prescott. There are multiple question marks on their offensive line and the Eagles have some promising young defensive linemen who could be poised to take advantage.
When it comes to the Cowboys’ pass rush, they have an elite edge defender by the name of Micah Parsons. Just kidding. Dallas unwisely decided to trade the best player on their team to the Green Bay Packers for a relatively meager return. Looking at the Cowboys’ updated depth chart, there just aren’t players who should strike fear into the Eagles (via Ourlads):
The Cowboys are apparently banking on Kenny Clark, who turns 30 in October, being able to help them stop the run. Yeah, I’m sure that’s the key to slowing down Saquon Barkley.
Cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland have logged top-notch ball production in the past but the former seems unlikely to suit up on Thursday and the latter is coming off a down year. The Cowboys could find themselves pretty thin at corner, where they’re already dealing with a number of injuries.
The 2025 Eagles will tell you themselves they’re not the 2024 Eagles. It’s a new season. But it’s hard not to feel good about the Birds in this moment.
The Eagles don’t regularly beat Prescott with ease, so, taking the points could be tempting. But, what are you, a coward? I’m leaning Eagles at -7.5.
What say you?
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