The Philadelphia Eagles didn't find much trouble getting past their divisional rivals last season. They will now kick off the 2025 season as defending Super Bowl champions, and with a chance to keep their recent supremacy over the Dallas Cowboys.
The Eagles blew out the Cowboys 41-7 in their last meeting. They also beat them 34-6 in their first meeting last season, sweeping the season series for the first time since 2011.
They enter Thursday night's season opener as 7.5-point favorites at the time of writing. Nevertheles, star wideout A.J. Brown doesn't want his team to get too confident and overlook their divisional rivals.
A.J. Brown Predicts a Close Game vs. the Cowboys
"I know everyone is focused on Micah, but the game's gonna be closer than what you think. Regardless of what the score was in the past. Those games are one of our most physical games," Brown said, per Jeff Kerr.
This is the National Football League, so anybody can beat anybody on any given night. We've seen defending champions caught hungover early on in the season.
Divisional games are known to be a toss-up, and Dak Prescott is actually 9-4 in his career vs. the Eagles. The Cowobys' offense should also look better with George Pickens there, and they will be extremely motivated to make a statement to begin the post-Micah Parsons era.
That said, the Eagles are favored for good reason. Dallas is more about the off-field headlines than on-field product, has several questions at key positions like running back, and an already-suspicious defense just lost its superstar talent in Parsons. Philly should be able to win this game handily. If they don't, it certainly raises questions about how strong the operation is to begin 2025.
Luckily, the Eagles have repeatedly talked about this season being a clean slate, and what they did in the past is in the rearview mirror. That inspires confidence they'll take every game as seriously as it requires.
There's no better way to start Philly's title defense than stomping the 'Boys in Week 1 while the entire league is watching for a potential weakness to help knock the Eagles off from the top.