Game Score Prediction winners

@Alphagrand with Eagles 25 Patriots 19 was the winner after a tiebreaker.

Four others predicted Eagles 24 Patriots 20 but the tiebreaker is closest to the Eagles score
The 24-20 predictors were
@Casey @ Bat
@NCTANK
@Waiting4Someday
@Westbrook#36

The tiebreaker "hits" were as follows

@Han Solo had "Defense gets a Pick 6" as his tiebreaker
@Iggles_Phan had "Siposs stuns with his punting performance!"
@DEagle7 had "Jalen Carter gets a sack"
@Westbrook#36 had "Hurts loses a fumble."
 

There were a total of 66 predictions with an average score of Eagles 29 Patriots 18.  Those 66 were:

NFC 10-6
AFC 6-10

Thoughts on the game...

- This DL is absolutely loaded. Was so nice seeing Milton Williams and Jordan Davis featured more, and Jalen Carter is an absolute stud. Edge guys had some great rushes too and were inches away from gamechanging plays (Sweat's near INT).

- I don't know what to do at LB and S. Zach Cunningham just cannot play pass coverage, and I just don't know what you do with a guy like that in 2023. If Dean's injury is serious, this could get worse than we thought.

- Hurts got beat today. Belichick/Mayo read him like a book. He looked hesitant as a runner. The fumble was terrible. Gotta be better, and I think he will be soon.

- I don't get the Gainwell angst. I guess you'd want a top guy to be more dynamic, but I don't mind a downhill guy with receiving chops. Offense's poor showing isn't on him.

- Too early to declare anything about the coordinators. I liked the DL personnel packages. Would need to look further if coverage busts were personnel or scheme. Offensively, I didn't see anything to suggest Johnson is on Steichen's level as a play caller. Offense looked lifeless for much of the game.

1 hour ago, mattwill said:

NFC 10-6
AFC 6-10

The NFC had the combined edge over the past two year cycle, yet everyone still weirdly thinks the AFC is clearly the stronger conference. Just because they have the better quarterbacks doesn’t mean they necessarily have the better teams.

I looked at a couple sites.  The spread was around Eagles -4 and the O/U was around 45.

The game ended as expected.

1 hour ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

The NFC had the combined edge over the past two year cycle, yet everyone still weirdly thinks the AFC is clearly the stronger conference. Just because they have the better quarterbacks doesn’t mean they necessarily have the better teams.

I think it does. In my opinion, they’re a lot more Super Bowl contenders in the AFC than NFC. That’s because the talent level at QB is much higher. 
 

The head to head matchups I don’t think say a whole lot in this situation. 

It’s only week 1. Teams like the Bengals, Chiefs, and Steelers will get better. 

Thursday night is going to be rough, especially if Cox, Dean and Bradberry can't go.

More concerning is that Hurts, at least for week 1, turned back into a pumpkin.

1 minute ago, Swoop said:

Thursday night is going to be rough, especially if Cox, Dean and Bradberry can't go.

More concerning is that Hurts, at least for week 1, turned back into a pumpkin.

Hurts wasn’t great but the coaching was bad. He’ll be fine. 

6 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

Hurts wasn’t great but the coaching was bad. He’ll be fine. 

Coaching doesn't make someone miss wide open receivers all game long, but I agree the PC was piss poor.

1 hour ago, Swoop said:

Coaching doesn't make someone miss wide open receivers all game long, but I agree the PC was piss poor.

Like I said, he wasn’t great, but I felt the coaching/play calling was way worse. 

1 hour ago, Swoop said:

Coaching doesn't make someone miss wide open receivers all game long, but I agree the PC was piss poor.

I’ll be honest I think they got in a rut and just couldn’t get out of their way. It didn’t look like they tried to change much up and a lot of plays looked the same and I’m not sure why.

2 hours ago, Swoop said:

Thursday night is going to be rough, especially if Cox, Dean and Bradberry can't go.

More concerning is that Hurts, at least for week 1, turned back into a pumpkin.

No he didn't, last year opening day he threw 56% completion for no TD's but we ran all over the Lions, Yesterday he threw 66% completion for 1 TD, the playcalling was clearly called to avoid him running against a stacked box, which was stuffing our run game, he missed a couple of chances to throw to Goedert but this was nothing like his debut season, the TD throw to Smith was a laser, an elite throw.

At the end of the day Hurts had a rusty opener against an opponent who may end up being better than they were given credit for coached by one of the best defensive coaches to ever do it, even Romo mentioned in commentary that the Patriots were running some coverages that you rarely see, it's a learning experience.

'OH NO WE DIDN'T BLOW OUT THE PATRIOTS ON THE ROAD ON OPENING DAY, LAST YEARS SUPERBOWL RUN WAS JUST A FLUKE FOR HURTS, WE SHOULD TANK FOR CALEB WILLIAMS'

I said in the Matchday thread, Wentz got 4 years grace on an almost MVP season, Hurt's didn't even get the whole of the opening game of the next season, it's Fing absurd.

 

Jesus, Dallas beat the Giants 40-0 and SF steamrolled the Steelers.....I know Super Bowls aren't won in week 1 but.....

Just now, NYEagle said:

Jesus, Dallas beat the Giants 40-0 and SF steamrolled the Steelers.....I know Super Bowls aren't won in week 1 but.....

Correct they aren’t and you don’t want to peak in week 1…

Eagles had a few games last year that were a bit like this one.  Cards, Bears, Colts come to mind.  Sometimes a W is simply a W even if it isn't pretty.

8 hours ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

That's a really odd comment considering Ferguson was drafted in the fourth round, and we didn't get to pick until round six after taking Nakobe Dean in the third. It's not like we took Calcaterra when your guy was available.

Not an odd take at all... leading up to the draft, he was the TE I wanted.  Calcaterra wasn't even on my radar, because of the concussion history.   Obviously, it didn't work out that way, but going into draft weekend, if TE was targeted, I was hoping for Ferguson.  Pretty simple.

8 hours ago, BigEFly said:

Well, glad we got a W in the fourth preseason game and finally saw the starters.  Sounds like Nick realizes, the starters need some reps.

May have been the worse game I have seen Lane Johnson play.  Troublesome, given his abductor surgery that he struggled so much with the bull rush today.   Jurgens isn’t as polished as Seumalo at that turn and tap move.  

LBs need thud tackling to the ground practice.quite obvious the donuts aren’t doing the trick.  Sad that Dean didn’t last a while game.

Evans seems a dollar short and a day late.  I will watch the All22 against the unlikely result that changes my mind but I doubt it.  How could Sydney Brown make more mistakes.  Zone was way to soft.  Cousins would pick that apart.  

I would prefer full speed mistakes to slow mistakes.  

 

As for Nick's epiphany... don't count on it.  Wins and some distance from the game will mean that we'll get the same come next offseason.

7 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

You trying to become the Philly Sod Father?

Hopefully. Or I'll stick with golf courses. I'm a Turf Science major. 

Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson are on another level from what the Eagles saw yesterday. Somehow, Kenrick Bourne went for 64 and 2 wide open TD's. 

JJ has already gone for 150. Addison had a great TD and 60 yards. Tampa Bay has actual LB so Hockenson wasn't a big factor.

The Eagles need to figure out the middle of the field and FAST or it could be a long Thursday. The obvious answer is they need to make Cousins miserable. Don't let him get comfortable at all. They need a huge game from their DL and pass rushers because there's no way that Cunningham, Evans, Edmunds and Ellis are slowing down anything between the hashes. 

3 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson are on another level from what the Eagles saw yesterday. Somehow, Kenrick Bourne went for 64 and 2 wide open TD's. 

JJ has already gone for 150. Addison had a great TD and 60 yards. Tampa Bay has actual LB so Hockenson wasn't a big factor.

The Eagles need to figure out the middle of the field and FAST or it could be a long Thursday. The obvious answer is they need to make Cousins miserable. Don't let him get comfortable at all. They need a huge game from their DL and pass rushers because there's no way that Cunningham, Evans, Edmunds and Ellis are slowing down anything between the hashes. 

I think the Vikings steamroll this team 

1 hour ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

No he didn't, last year opening day he threw 56% completion for no TD's but we ran all over the Lions, Yesterday he threw 66% completion for 1 TD, the playcalling was clearly called to avoid him running against a stacked box, which was stuffing our run game, he missed a couple of chances to throw to Goedert but this was nothing like his debut season, the TD throw to Smith was a laser, an elite throw.

At the end of the day Hurts had a rusty opener against an opponent who may end up being better than they were given credit for coached by one of the best defensive coaches to ever do it, even Romo mentioned in commentary that the Patriots were running some coverages that you rarely see, it's a learning experience.

'OH NO WE DIDN'T BLOW OUT THE PATRIOTS ON THE ROAD ON OPENING DAY, LAST YEARS SUPERBOWL RUN WAS JUST A FLUKE FOR HURTS, WE SHOULD TANK FOR CALEB WILLIAMS'

I said in the Matchday thread, Wentz got 4 years grace on an almost MVP season, Hurt's didn't even get the whole of the opening game of the next season, it's Fing absurd.

 

I'm not talking about last season though. I'm talking about this season. People can complain about the play calling (rightfully so) all they want, but Hurts was bad. We all saw it. We all saw him wobble throws, take off early, miss wide open guys and stupidly fumble a ball when he should've slid. 

No one's saying the season is over or that he can't get it together. It's okay to admit he played badly. He did.

8 hours ago, bpac55 said:

Playing on what I assume is a very similar surface that the Cowboys/NYG are playing on and in similar conditions. Cowboys are having no issues rushing the passer. 

Mac Jones was drafted by Belichick b/c he saw a QB similar to early Brady, running an offense built around quick throws (most were less than 2.5 seconds) - it's hard to get sacks against that offensive scheme.

Dan Jones holds the ball too long, has too much confidence in his arm and athleticism.

What troubled me is how quickly the Patriot receivers and TEs got open.

 

 

14 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson are on another level from what the Eagles saw yesterday. Somehow, Kenrick Bourne went for 64 and 2 wide open TD's. 

JJ has already gone for 150. Addison had a great TD and 60 yards. Tampa Bay has actual LB so Hockenson wasn't a big factor.

The Eagles need to figure out the middle of the field and FAST or it could be a long Thursday. The obvious answer is they need to make Cousins miserable. Don't let him get comfortable at all. They need a huge game from their DL and pass rushers because there's no way that Cunningham, Evans, Edmunds and Ellis are slowing down anything between the hashes. 

 

11 minutes ago, GoEagles5921 said:

I think the Vikings steamroll this team 

The Vikings just lost to Baker Mayfield who threw for a whopping 173 yards. They also have no running game. 

Eagles should win by 20 

There is no way Sydney Brown could be worse than Blankenship and Evans in coverage......I thought Dean was playing really well until he went out.  If he is out for an extended time, ut oh.....

5 hours ago, Saltpeter said:

Thoughts on the game...

- This DL is absolutely loaded. Was so nice seeing Milton Williams and Jordan Davis featured more, and Jalen Carter is an absolute stud. Edge guys had some great rushes too and were inches away from gamechanging plays (Sweat's near INT).

- I don't know what to do at LB and S. Zach Cunningham just cannot play pass coverage, and I just don't know what you do with a guy like that in 2023. If Dean's injury is serious, this could get worse than we thought.

- Hurts got beat today. Belichick/Mayo read him like a book. He looked hesitant as a runner. The fumble was terrible. Gotta be better, and I think he will be soon.

- I don't get the Gainwell angst. I guess you'd want a top guy to be more dynamic, but I don't mind a downhill guy with receiving chops. Offense's poor showing isn't on him.

- Too early to declare anything about the coordinators. I liked the DL personnel packages. Would need to look further if coverage busts were personnel or scheme. Offensively, I didn't see anything to suggest Johnson is on Steichen's level as a play caller. Offense looked lifeless for much of the game.

How many worse starting RBs are there in the NFL? Is he so good that he should out-touch Swift 18-2? That’s the reason for angst.