Eagles 2023 Schedule Prediction Thread (REVISED 3/15/'23)

[RememberTheKoy]

12 minutes ago, Wallyhorse said:

Usually, the Super Bowl loser opens on Sunday night.  That would be the Eagles.  Since barring a total collapse at this point Aaron Rodgers is going to sign with the Jets, I think THAT will be the Sunday night opener as I think NBC will want Aaron Rodgers's debut for the Jets to be SNF which fits that and the Super Bowl loser opening Sunday night (also the Eagles can't really open at home anyway because the Marlins game Sunday 9/10 is their last meeting of the season AND I also suspect MLB will insist on the Eagles not opening at home Monday 9/11 in case the Phils have to make up a rainout that Monday).  They will save games in Dallas for October when the MLB playoffs are  taking place and there could be potential issues in some locations (why I have the Eagles not playing any home games in October as I think the NFL will assume the Phillies make another long playoff run).  While technically the Cowboys and Texas Rangers share parking facilities for their stadiums, that complex is far bigger than the sports complex in Philly so even if the Cowboys and Rangers were playing at the same time parking would not be an issue.  Also, I have Eagles at Cowboys being Christmas Day and I'm sure FOX has their sights set for that (as they have the 4:30 slot Christmas Day this time) especially given to me it's a lock Amazon Prime will want the other Cowboys-Eagles game here (why I have the Eagles playing in New England on Thanksgiving Night as Eagles-Patriots is very sellable for NBC as a "Super Bowl LII rematch" to casual fans). 

One wild card is we could have the Eagles play a 3:00 PM ET game on Black Friday with the Eagles then playing the Cowboys the following Thursday with both on Amazon Prime (there will be a Black Friday game this year for the first time, though that could also be one of the international games). 

 

Don't even know the last time the Super Bowl loser opened on Sunday night.  O went back a few years and none od them did.

[Wallyhorse]

1 hour ago, RememberTheKoy said:

Don't even know the last time the Super Bowl loser opened on Sunday night.  O went back a few years and none od them did.

That used to always be the case.  And in this case, I suspect the NFL assuming Rodgers is in line to play for the Jets would make that the opener because NBC would want Rodgers's Jets debut to be on SNF anyway.

[RememberTheKoy]

31 minutes ago, Wallyhorse said:

That used to always be the case.  And in this case, I suspect the NFL assuming Rodgers is in line to play for the Jets would make that the opener because NBC would want Rodgers's Jets debut to be on SNF anyway.

 

Could be Jets on SNF but the Jets play in one of the toughest divisions in the league with plenty of star power so it'd almost certainly be the Bill's or Dolphins in that game against the Jets instead of the Eagles.  If Eagles open the season in SNF my bet would be its against the Cowboys or Giants.

[Wallyhorse]

On 4/17/2023 at 4:10 PM, RememberTheKoy said:

 

Could be Jets on SNF but the Jets play in one of the toughest divisions in the league with plenty of star power so it'd almost certainly be the Bill's or Dolphins in that game against the Jets instead of the Eagles.  If Eagles open the season in SNF my bet would be its against the Cowboys or Giants.

Could be but the Eagles almost certainly have to open on the road because the Phillies are at home Sunday 9/10 AND even though Monday 9/11 is an open date, MLB and the Phillies likely want that kept in reserve in case they have to make up a home rainout that day.  Plus the Eagles only have eight home dates this time (they had nine last year).  That's why I think they open in The Meadowlands against the Jets and then have their home opener on Monday Night Football (ABC-only game) in Week 2 against the Vikings for the second year in a row. 

[RememberTheKoy]

11 hours ago, Wallyhorse said:

Could be but the Eagles almost certainly have to open on the road because the Phillies are at home Sunday 9/10 AND even though Monday 9/11 is an open date, MLB and the Phillies likely want that kept in reserve in case they have to make up a home rainout that day.  Plus the Eagles only have eight home dates this time (they had nine last year).  That's why I think they open in The Meadowlands against the Jets and then have their home opener on Monday Night Football (ABC-only game) in Week 2 against the Vikings for the second year in a row. 

 

Super Bowl losers going back years open at home.  Some side lwoly attended sport like baseball isn't going to change that.

[Wallyhorse]

On 4/23/2023 at 9:07 AM, RememberTheKoy said:

Super Bowl losers going back years open at home.  Some side lwoly attended sport like baseball isn't going to change that.

Citizens Bank Park is often sold out or close to sold out, especially for weekend games.  The Phillies and MLB have priority in that situation because the Phils play 81 home dates at CBP.  Plus, the 9/10 game with the Marlins as noted is their last meeting of the season.  While the Marlins do have a game elsewhere Monday 9/11 AND the Phillies have an open date, MLB and the Phillies may insist the NFL not schedule a home game for that date in case the Phils need that day to make up a rainout.   This is not the 1960's when the Phils often had less than 10,000 for games at Connie Mack Stadium, they drew 2.2 Million last year and coming off a National League pennant are likely to draw 3 Million+ this season. 

I would think here the NFL would love to have Rodgers's Jets debut be against the NFC Champions.

I have the Eagles home opener be Week 2 on Monday Night Football against the Vikings (ABC only as there are separate Monday night games on ESPN and ABC that night) as the Phillies are on the road then.

[RememberTheKoy]

34 minutes ago, Wallyhorse said:

Citizens Bank Park is often sold out or close to sold out, especially for weekend games.  The Phillies and MLB have priority in that situation because the Phils play 81 home dates at CBP.  Plus, the 9/10 game with the Marlins as noted is their last meeting of the season.  While the Marlins do have a game elsewhere Monday 9/11 AND the Phillies have an open date, MLB and the Phillies may insist the NFL not schedule a home game for that date in case the Phils need that day to make up a rainout.   This is not the 1960's when the Phils often had less than 10,000 for games at Connie Mack Stadium, they drew 2.2 Million last year and coming off a National League pennant are likely to draw 3 Million+ this season. 

I would think here the NFL would love to have Rodgers's Jets debut be against the NFC Champions.

I have the Eagles home opener be Week 2 on Monday Night Football against the Vikings (ABC only as there are separate Monday night games on ESPN and ABC that night) as the Phillies are on the road then.

 

If there will be an away game were 1 it would be Eagles @ Cowboys.  There is no great history between the Jets and Eagles, no reason for that to open on SNF.  Also no reason for the NFL to bend over for a small league like MLB when a game isn't scheduled for that Sunday and it's a fanbase that does not attend games.

[Wallyhorse]

4 hours ago, RememberTheKoy said:

If there will be an away game were 1 it would be Eagles @ Cowboys.  There is no great history between the Jets and Eagles, no reason for that to open on SNF.  Also no reason for the NFL to bend over for a small league like MLB when a game isn't scheduled for that Sunday and it's a fanbase that does not attend games.

Since when has MLB been a small league?  Baseball used to be The National Pastime and along with Boxing and Horse Racing were the "Big Three" pro sports.  The NFL didn't start to become what it did until the 1960's.  The Eagles likely have to open on the road and NBC likely wants Rodgers's debut, so Eagles-Jets makes the most sense.  

Also as said above, I have BOTH Eagles-Cowboys games being national games: The Thursday after Thanksgiving at home (11/30) on Amazon Prime (Eagles play Thanksgiving Night in New England) and Christmas Day in Dallas on FOX (NFL has Christmas Day games again and FOX has the late game this time on 12/25). 

[RememberTheKoy]

39 minutes ago, Wallyhorse said:

Since when has MLB been a small league?  Baseball used to be The National Pastime and along with Boxing and Horse Racing were the "Big Three" pro sports.  The NFL didn't start to become what it did until the 1960's.  The Eagles likely have to open on the road and NBC likely wants Rodgers's debut, so Eagles-Jets makes the most sense.  

Also as said above, I have BOTH Eagles-Cowboys games being national games: The Thursday after Thanksgiving at home (11/30) on Amazon Prime (Eagles play Thanksgiving Night in New England) and Christmas Day in Dallas on FOX (NFL has Christmas Day games again and FOX has the late game this time on 12/25). 

Keyword used to be.  It's highly irrelevant.   

Eagles @ Jets could be prime time at some point during the season but there is little reason to believe that would be the opening game due to no real connection and storyline to hype around those two teams playing each other.  Won't happen.

[Wallyhorse]

4 hours ago, RememberTheKoy said:

Keyword used to be.  It's highly irrelevant.   

Eagles @ Jets could be prime time at some point during the season but there is little reason to believe that would be the opening game due to no real connection and storyline to hype around those two teams playing each other.  Won't happen.

Maybe with the people YOU know baseball is irrelevant, but with most people in Philly, the Phillies and baseball are very important. 

You also forget there are a lot of native New Yorkers who live in Philly (especially in Center City, Olde City and University City that are considered the unofficial 6th borough of NYC because of the cost of renting in NYC to where it is cheaper to live in Philly and spend up to $1,000 a month on trains between Philly and NYC for work) and NYC has ALWAYS been a baseball town first even with TWO NFL teams.  

[RememberTheKoy]

21 minutes ago, Wallyhorse said:

Maybe with the people YOU know baseball is irrelevant, but with most people in Philly, the Phillies and baseball are very important. 

You also forget there are a lot of native New Yorkers who live in Philly (especially in Center City, Olde City and University City that are considered the unofficial 6th borough of NYC because of the cost of renting in NYC to where it is cheaper to live in Philly and spend up to $1,000 a month on trains between Philly and NYC for work) and NYC has ALWAYS been a baseball town first even with TWO NFL teams.  

 

It's irrelevant in America.  Phillies also have the most fairweath fanbase in the city.  That season is going to be long over in September.  Will be a ghost town at the ballpark.

[Wallyhorse]

16 hours ago, RememberTheKoy said:

It's irrelevant in America.  Phillies also have the most fairweath fanbase in the city.  That season is going to be long over in September.  Will be a ghost town at the ballpark.

Doesn't matter.  MLB and Phillies I believe get priority in that situation since their schedule was done prior to the start of the 2022 NFL season.  Especially now with interleague play and every team playing at least one series against every other team, Monday 9/11 has to be held in reserve in case the Phils have to make up a rainout that day, especially if it's against a team from the other league.  

And baseball may be irrelevant to YOU and those YOU know, but for a lot of people, it's not.

[RememberTheKoy]

19 minutes ago, Wallyhorse said:

Doesn't matter.  MLB and Phillies I believe get priority in that situation since their schedule was done prior to the start of the 2022 NFL season.  Especially now with interleague play and every team playing at least one series against every other team, Monday 9/11 has to be held in reserve in case the Phils have to make up a rainout that day, especially if it's against a team from the other league.  

And baseball may be irrelevant to YOU and those YOU know, but for a lot of people, it's not.

MLB and Phillies get no priority.  Furthermore as you said there isn't even a game that day.  NFL isn't going to bend over backwards for an irrelevant league.  And it is irrelevant for most in America.  Terrible ratings and half empty ball parks everywhere.

[Wallyhorse]

3 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

MLB and Phillies get no priority.  Furthermore as you said there isn't even a game that day.  NFL isn't going to bend over backwards for an irrelevant league.  And it is irrelevant for most in America.  Terrible ratings and half empty ball parks everywhere.

I remember 2008 when the Giants opened up against the then-Redskins in the season-opening game (Giants had won the Super Bowl the year before handing the Patriots their only loss all year in that game).  While that game Redskins-Giants was in Giants Stadium, Met Life Stadium (which opened in 2010) was under construction then and at the time, there was a possibility that opener was going to have to be flipped with their later meeting in Washington.  Originally as I remember, the Eagles were supposed to play in that season opening game in Giants Stadium but MLB and the Phillies objected because that game could have had to be moved to Lincoln Financial Field and the Phillies needed the date kept open in case they had to make up a rainout (they wound up not needing that date but that was the year the Phillies made a massive comeback to win the NL East and then win it all).  

[chad_steele]

I could see the NFL scheduling Rams-Cowboys on SNF early in the season to get LA in Primetime. The Rams could suck again and the NFL may want them scheduled within the first 3-4 weeks before they implode completely. 

I think Dolphins-Eagles is a prime candidate for a Thursday or Monday night game. Tua vs. Jalen. I wouldn't be surprised if the Dolphins open against the Chiefs instead of the Chargers. Tyreek Hill's return to KC would be a good storyline for Opening Night.

[chad_steele]

Also -- in regards to the MLB -- I don't think the NFL will cater to them for a "could be/what if" makeup game. The Phillies could play a makeup game Monday at 1pm. Hence, I still think the Birds open at home on MNF against the Giants (could also see the Dolphins here as well but I have them a few weeks later on TNF).

[Mike030270]

Could be delayed

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-schedule-release-2023-date-of-unveiling-could-be-delayed-with-schedule-not-yet-finalized-per-report/

[Mike030270]

 

[Wallyhorse]

14 hours ago, Mike030270 said:

 

Right.  When I did this, that was before much of this became official (the "free agent" rule was originally supposed to take effect next season as I remember).  I did it based on the old rules.

With the new rule a team could be on Amazon Prime twice, I would see the Eagles playing in the "Black Friday" game (still in Foxboro against the Patriots) and then coming back and hosting the Cowboys the following Thursday in consecutive Amazon Prime games.

[Wallyhorse]

On 5/5/2023 at 8:19 PM, chad_steele said:

Also -- in regards to the MLB -- I don't think the NFL will cater to them for a "could be/what if" makeup game. The Phillies could play a makeup game Monday at 1pm. Hence, I still think the Birds open at home on MNF against the Giants (could also see the Dolphins here as well but I have them a few weeks later on TNF).

I believe in that situation MLB and the Phillies have priority.  This actually came up I believe in 2008 when the NFL was originally looking to have Eagles-Giants in Giants Stadium be the season-opening NFL game, however, that was when Met Life Stadium was under construction and the NFL had to have the Giants open against a divisional opponent in case that game had to be flipped with the second meeting later in the season.  As I remember, the Phillies objected to the Eagles playing in that opener out of concerns that opening game would have had to for the Giants be played on the road, costing the Phillies a makeup date they needed at that point in the season, so the Giants opened against the then-Redskins.

If that date were actually needed for a makeup game, MLB might not be able to have it be a 1:00 PM ET game, especially if the team the game had to be made up against was playing on Sunday Night Baseball the night before (and that particular weekend, Sunday Night Baseball is an 8;05 PM ET first pitch because of that day being the Men's Final of the US Open Tennis Championships that airs ahead of that game on ESPN) OR it's against a team that played Sunday 9/10 out west and the game could not start before say 5:00 PM ET.  Also, the Eagles can't open at home on Sunday 9/10 because MLB and ESPN (albeit unlikely at this point) could want Marlins-Phillies for that Sunday night game. 

[Rey]

[justwinbaby]

1 hour ago, Rey said:

I don't like having to play 1 Thursday night game let alone 2..

[JournalistMic]

I am not saying I can see into the future, but I have been 100% right on this one thing for decades.
The Eagles will have to play the Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys and NY Giants twice this year again.

Okay lame Dad joke, I know but what else are we going to talk about in this dead NFL time of the year?

[Wallyhorse]

2 hours ago, justwinbaby said:

I don't like having to play 1 Thursday night game let alone 2..

This was only a MOCK schedule.  How close it is to the actual schedule we'll find out tomorrow.

And given Eagles-Jets is considered by the NFL apparently to be one of the five most intriguing matchups of the entire season, I still think that's the Sunday night opener. 

[justwinbaby]

20 minutes ago, Wallyhorse said:

This was only a MOCK schedule.  How close it is to the actual schedule we'll find out tomorrow.

And given Eagles-Jets is considered by the NFL apparently to be one of the five most intriguing matchups of the entire season, I still think that's the Sunday night opener. 

Gotcha, and yeah that would be a fun one. I think whichever teams have the week 1 Thursday night games should have to be the teams to play 2 Thursday night games because they don't have the short week for the week 1