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Read the news of the day in less than 10 minutes — not that we’re counting.
The Eagles schedule is out and at first glance, Doug Pederson’s second season will be an undefeated 16-0 celebration!
At second glance, probably 8-8. Nobody has any idea what the Eagles will be right now, a week away from the 2017 NFL Draft. More importantly on a night like tonight, it’s hard to know much about their opponents this coming season either. Here they all are, in order of appearance.
The key notes about this year’s slate are this: The Birds play on Christmas night, at home, against the Raiders. Ho ho ho, let’s hope it snows.
In all, the Eagles have five primetime games this season, including one on Thursday Night (on Amazon streaming!), two Sunday nights — on the road at Dallas and at Seattle — and two Monday nights.
The Eagles open the season at Washington, then face Andy Reid and the Chiefs on the road as well, so their home opener won’t come until Week 3 against the Giants. Another road game follows, then home against the Cardinals and at Carolina, so no matter how good the Eagles may be, it’s tough to look at the first six games and see a winning record.
A Week 10 bye week is great, especially leading into the Sunday night tilt with Dallas. And speaking of Dallas, the Eagles end the season at home on New Years’ Eve day, hosting the Cowboys. Again.
The division is going to be tough, and there are some difficult opponents on the slate outside the division as well, with home games against Denver and Oakland to go with easier match-ups against San Francisco and Chicago. The worst part of the schedule? Multiple trips to the west coast, facing the Chargers on October 1 then Seattle Sunday night, December 3 and the Los Angeles Rams the following week, where the Eagles will probably just stay out west.
Undefeated? No. An even 8-8 looks pretty likely right now.