Philadelphia Eagles: Previewing Week 1 meeting with Atlanta Falcons

Prediction

Now it is time for our first prediction of the 2018 season! How will the first game of the 2018 Eagles season play out?

First of all, the Linc is going to be absolutely rocking on Thursday night. To at least start the game, the atmosphere is going to be at the level of a playoff game, and that should continue if the Eagles play well throughout the night.

After the banner ceremony, there is going to be a lot of adrenaline amongst all of the Eagles, something that is going to have to be tamed quickly if they want to win this game. But, Pederson has shown to have this team so well coached so that should not be an issue.

Expect the Eagles to feed off of the crowd early on and possibly make a big play early on. It would not be a surprise if the offense tries to go for a big play in the first drive to try and get the ball rolling offensively.

On defense, the front four should be very aggressive early on, slowing down the run and getting plenty of pressure on Ryan. The concern will be whether they can sustain that pressure throughout the entirety of the game, and can they limit big plays from the Falcons’ offense.

On offense, the key will be to put together 3-4 good, long scoring drives, ending them in hopefully touchdowns. The firepower is there and Pederson will have the offense schemed to fit the strengths of Foles, although it is just a matter of whether the offense can be consistent throughout the night.

Of course, the biggest question of all will be which Foles will the Eagles get? We all know when Foles is bad, he is really bad, and when he is good, he is really good. In the preseason, we saw the bad Foles, but it is important to remember that the Eagles were not catering to his strengths in the preseason.

Being at home, having most of his playmakers back, and having the offense catered to his strengths, it would be fair to expect Foles to perform pretty well on Thursday night. As long as he is not terrible, Philadelphia should have a good chance at winning this game.

The Eagles should be one of the best teams in the NFL this year and that shouldn’t change even with Foles at the helm. With the atmosphere this game will be in along with the level the defense will play at, it is extremely hard to pick against Philadelphia in this game. With that being said, my prediction is the Eagles score late to pull away and start their title defense on a positive note.

Eagles 24 Falcons 17