The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off of a 9-7 winning season and a playoff win against the 12-4 Chicago Bears in the wildcard round. Their schedule for the upcoming 2019 season has two key stretches that will determine whether the Eagles reach their full potential with Carson Wentz possibly returning to his 2017 MVP form.
Predicting the Philadelphia Eagles 2019 Record
Key Stretches
The first stretch runs weeks six through eight when the Eagles face the Minnesota Vikings to kickoff their gauntlet of three straight road games, followed by taking on the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills. The Eagles must try to take at least two of these games if they want to not only win their division but also earn a first-round bye.
The other stretch is a four divisional game series to end the year. Luckily, the Eagles will have already played their away game in Dallas by then so their toughest competition for the NFC East crown will have to come to play in Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles will hold their playoff destiny in their hands. Doug Pederson is known to hold a strong record in the month of December (3-1 records for the 2017 and 2018 season). In fact, the 2017 season when the Eagles won Super Bowl LII, they would have gone 4-0 in the month of December if they didn’t sit their starters against Dallas in Week 17 after securing the top seed in the NFC. Truthfully speaking, Doug Pederson holds a commanding 7-1 win total in the month of December after his first year of coaching.
The Verdict
- Week 1: vs. Washington Redskins – Win
- Week 2: at Atlanta Falcons – Loss
- Week 3: vs Detroit Lions – Win
- Week 4: at Green Bay Packers – Loss
- Week 5: vs New York Jets – Win
- Week 6: at Minnesota Vikings – Loss
- Week 7: at Dallas Cowboys – Loss
- Week 8: at Buffalo Bills – Win
- Week 9: vs Chicago Bears – Win
- Week 10: BYE
- Week 11: vs New England Patriots – Loss
- Week 12: vs Seattle Seahawks – Win
- Week 13: at Miami Dolphins – Win
- Week 14: vs New York Giants – Win
- Week 15: at Washington Redskins – Win
- Week 16: vs Dallas Cowboys – Win
- Week 17: at New York Giants – Win
The Philadelphia Eagles 2019 record will be 11-5.
The floor for this extremely well coached and managed team is 10-6, while the ceiling could easily be 13-3 if they deliver road wins in Minnesota and Atlanta or can sweep their home games while stealing an extra road game. A home record of 7-1 and a 4-4 road game split is the final prediction. Keep in mind that six out of the seven losses last season were determined by a single touchdown or less. The Eagles last year pulled out a 9-7 record despite failing to close out games when they were up. The Eagles had an injured and poor backfield last year, which means that they were unable to close out games with their run game, unlike their 2017 year when the team went 13-3.
If that isn’t enough to justify the Eagles as being a legit Super Bowl contender then consider this: the Eagles have a 12-4 home record the last two years under Doug Pederson. However, one of those losses was a Week 17 game where players were rested since the top seed had already been secured that season.
This team has arguably a top five head coach, a recent general manager of the year award winner, and a roster better than their recent Super Bowl winning one on paper. Add on to that a healthy MVP candidate in Wentz with a full off-season and it isn’t strange to expect them to replicate the magic seen two years ago. The reason why Eagles fans should be more optimistic this year isn’t just because of the new potential starters, but primarily due to the incredible depth on both sides of the ball this year. The Eagles feasibly have the deepest roster in the NFL considering a decent amount of their backups are or were former quality starters capable of delivering in a limited role or stepping into that starting role if injuries were to strike. Howie Roseman, the Eagles GM, saw that Head Coach Pederson was making the best out of a poor situation. However, he ultimately realized that the team needed to surpass its 2017 roots and provided solid depth at every position on the team, even if it meant letting old talent walk out the door. By doing so, this team made a statement. They fully intend to weather the storm of injuries with their strong depth and avoid the failed seasons that befall most teams throughout the year due to injury.
