Ranking who the Eagles should play in the NFL’s season-opening Kickoff Game

If history is our guide, the NFL’s first game of the season will feature the Eagles at home, but against whom?

Four months.

That’s how long we have to wait until the 2025 NFL season kicks off with your Philadelphia Eagles the defending Super Bowl champions. On September 4, the league will raise the curtains on the season with their Kickoff Game, the official start of the ‘25 season. And if history is our guide, the defending Super Bowl champions, your Philadelphia Eagles, will play host at Lincoln Financial Field.

There are eight teams against whom the Birds, who won the Super Bowl, could play: the Cowboys, Giants, Commanders, Bears, Lions, Broncos, Rams and Raiders.

There are some truly marquee possibilities in there, and here is my ranking of who I would like to see the defending Super Bowl champions play as they attempt to defend the Super Bowl they won by humiliating Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs 40-22.

1) Detroit Lions

Let’s not kid ourselves, for most of last season, the Lions were the best team in the NFC. They were the No. 1 seed, going 15-2 with an offense that seemingly scored at will and mirrored the Eagles’ run-happy, big-play scheme. But injuries decimated their defense as the season went along, leaving them thinner than a piece of single-ply toilet paper by the time the Washington Commanders faced them in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Obviously, the Eagles were pleased things worked out the way they did. The Commanders won, the Eagles got to host the NFC Championship Game against a rookie QB, and the rest is history. But we never got to see these two titans ball out on the big stage, so it only seems right to open the season with perhaps the league’s two best teams going at it in an alternate reality NFC title game rematch.

2) Washington Commanders

All that being said, the Commanders’ ascent to the NFC Championship Game was remarkable, and there is perhaps no more exciting a player in the league than Daniels. The NFL loves to feature its marketable stars, and even though they lost 55-23 in the title game, very little of that was Daniels’ fault. He actually played quite well, and the Commanders were one of only three teams to beat the Eagles a season ago.

How can the NFL resist an NFC Championship Game rematch between division rivals featuring the hottest young QB in the league? It will be difficult. Personally, having played Washington three times last year (and the Eagles really should have won the middle game they lost in DC), I’m more interested in seeing how they match up with Detroit, but opening against the Commanders would be a ton of fun, too.

3) Los Angeles Rams

You could very easily argue the Rams should be at the top of this list, given the legendary game these two teams played in the snow last January. The Eagles seemingly had this game in the bag after Saquon Barkley’s epic TD jaunt in the snow…

…until Matthew Stafford somehow led L.A. on a late 4th-quarter TD drive and then almost won it for them with the clock winding down.

After a number of rumors suggesting Stafford would be traded following Cooper Kupp’s departure, the Rams went out and traded for Davante Adams and appear locked and loaded for one more run at a Super Bowl in 2025. Sean McVay can coach, and that young defensive line that gave Philadelphia fits in pass protection in the postseason returns, another year older and wiser. Can Saquon repeat his 255 and 205 yard efforts in this year’s rematch? Unlikely, but it would be fun to see him try!

4) Dallas Cowboys

Let’s be honest. Humiliating the Dallas Cowboys on the national stage as their first order of business defending their Super Bowl championship would be quite a chef’s kiss way of opening up the ‘25 campaign. Despite the Cowboys’ irrelevance, it is still satisfying to beat up on them, which the Eagles did last year for the first time since their previous Super Bowl season of 2017.

Does Dak Prescott and the rest of the team have any fight left in them? Or has Jerry Jones sucked them dry? Finding that out in Week 1 would also be a bunch of fun.

5) Chicago Bears

People are excited about the Bears, and it’s easy to see why. With Caleb Williams entering his second year as a starter, the former No. 1 overall pick is expected to take a big step forward this season, and what better way to meet the challenge then by taking on Jalen Hurts and the defending champs? Former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is being expected to revitalize the Chicago offense and help Williams take that big step forward.

Chicago also made a bunch of moves to protect Williams, trading for Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, improved their defensive line by signing Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odeyingbo, and drafted tight end Colston Loveland with their first round pick and wide receiver Luther Burden III in the second round. They are an intriguing team and potentially a team on the rise.

6) Denver Broncos

There’s no compelling storyline for a Broncos-Eagles match-up, which is precisely why it won’t happen. But Denver put up a spunky 10-7 record a season ago and, although they fell 31-7 as the No. 7 seed to the Bills in the wild card round, they perhaps found a little something to build on.

Bo Nix looks like one of the league’s bright young stars at QB, and there’s reason to believe there’s more to come. They signed defensive tackle D.J. Jones to a new contract and then signed linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga to make their defense even tougher. Evan Engram joins as a pass-catching tight end, giving Nix another option through the air. This isn’t a Super Bowl contender, and in the very tough AFC West, they may not even make the playoffs. But this would still be a fun, if uninspiring, contest.

7) Las Vegas Raiders

Pete Carroll’s back. Is this a big deal? Time will tell, but it’s something new for the Raiders, who have been wandering in the NFL’s void for the better part of a decade now. Honestly, there’s not much juice to the idea of the Raiders coming to Philly for Week 1 other than to see a potential running back duel between Barkley and Vegas first round pick Ashto Jeanty. Geno Smith will be under center for Carroll and the Raiders, but it’s hard to believe this game would be very competitive, so let’s save this one for late October or something.

8) New York Giants

The only reason to want to see this is to guarantee the Eagles a 1-0 record heading into Week 2, or to humiliate the Giants.

I support either argument.