Win or lose, style points matter
Reacting to Week 1 games comes with overreaction baked in. But there’s also some truth that how a team plays in their season opener foreshadows the season. Things can happen, like missing a game tying TD by a toe; and unless there’s a tie–which has happened only four times since the AFL/NFL merger, though three of them have been since 2018–someone has to lose. Two of the past five Super Bowl winners started 0-1. No matter the outcome of the game, a season opener can show how well or how poorly a team has prepared for the season.
At least, it has for the Eagles.
2023 – Eagles 25, Patriots 20
At the time we could handwave away that the rain and adjusting to new play callers made the game look worse than it was. But there signs. D’Andre Swift having just two touches, Dallas Goedert having just 1 target, and Mac Jones throwing 3 TDs didn’t sit right at the time. The Patriots would have a disaster of a season and the Eagles struggled against them.
2022 – Eagles 38, Lions 35
The Eagles didn’t look like the best team in the NFC in this game, but the ingredients were there. They dominated on the ground with four rushing TDs and 216 rushing yards, and AJ Brown had 155 yards.
2021 – Eagles 32, Falcons 6
The 2021 Eagles reached the playoffs by going 8-1 against teams with a losing record, and kickstarted that with a demolishing of the would be 7-10 Falcons. Devonta Smith caught a TD on his first career reception, and Jalen Hurts had 326 total yards.
2020 – Washington Football Team 27, Eagles 17
Dwayne Haskins got cut during this season. He threw for 178 yards in this game. WFT’s leading rusher had 36 yards. The Eagles lost to this team. Carson Wentz threw two interceptions and was sacked 8 times. A pitiful start to a pitiful season.
2019 – Eagles 32, WASTEAM 27
Carson Wentz threw for three TDs but so did Case Keenum. Down 13 at the half, the Eagles scored on all of their second half possessions save for a kneel down, not dissimilar to their 5-7 start that saw them win four straight to reach the playoffs.
2018 – Eagles 18, Falcons 12
A nail biting win against what was thought to be a good Falcons team, a near repeat of their 15-10 win over Atlanta in the playoffs the year before. The 2017 game came down to a pass attempt to Julio Jones from the 2 yard line on 4th down, the 2018 game came down to… a pass attempt to Julio Jones from the 1 yard line after an Eagles penalty on 4th down. Both even had Nick Foles at QB.
But the 2018 Falcons team wasn’t good, and the 2018 Eagles, like in that game, weren’t much better.
2017 – Eagles 30, WASTEAM 17
The Eagles ended a five game losing streak to Washington and four game losing streak to bogeyman Kirk Cousins. Nelson Agholor exited the road to Bustville with 86 yards and a touchdown, and Fletcher Cox put the game to bed with a fumble return for a TD.
A few ghosts were exorcized that Sunday afternoon, and many more were that season.
2016 – Eagles 29, Browns 10
That Browns team was a joke but Doug Pederson, the butt of many jokes in the offseason, wasn’t that day. Midway through the 3rd quarter Pederson went for it on fourth down from the Browns 40 and converted, on the next play the Eagles scored a TD. It would take two seasons and a Super Bowl to set in, but Doug Pederson changed the way NFL coaches approach fourth down. The seed was planted in this game.
2015 – Falcons 26, Eagles 24
Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray, and the new look Eagles were supposed to be contenders. They were anything but. The new look offense went three and out on their first possession, then did it again on their second. Their first seven possessions were five punts, a field goal, and an interception. Three straight TDs actually gave them the lead in the second half, but the defense gave it right back and the offense fizzled out with a missed FG and interception. A lame start to a lame season.
2014 – Eagles 34, Jaguars 17
The Eagles scored 34 unanswered points in the second half, but then Chip Kelly’s offense could always score in bunches. But the first half was all Jacksonville. The Jaguars, who would end the season with the lowest scoring offense, scored 17 straight to start the game and entered the half up 17-0. They were aided by Nick Foles fumbling on the first two possessions, the next five possessions would be four punts and an interception; four of those possessions would be 5 plays or fewer. The Chip Kelly Eagles scored quickly and punted quickly, and they showed both sides of that as they would all season.
2013 – Eagles 33, WASTEAM 27
The offensive revolution was televised, on Monday Night Football. LeSean McCoy had 184 yards and a TD, DeSean Jackson 104 yards and a TD, and Mike Vick threw for two and ran for a third. The Eagles scored a touchdown on three straight possessions. Two of their four touchdowns came on drives of two plays or fewer. Everyone who thought the Chip Kelly offense would never work in the NFL was proven wrong in one game. But there were warning signs. They punted six times, though none were the three and out that took only 80 seconds off the clock that would come to be a staple of the Chip Kelly offense. And the first score of the game was DeAngelo Hall returning a Vick fumble for a TD.
Not every Week 1 game is indicative of the season that is to follow, but for the Eagles teams that have their act together in Week 1 tend to have it all year, and those that do not can not get it together.
