What you notice first about this 2008 regular season schedule is the national attention to the Philadelphia Eagles. They have five prime-time games and a 4:15 p.m. game against Pittsburgh in Week 3 that has a national audience. The league is saying this about the Eagles: We expect you to be a very good team.
As for wins and losses, hey, there isn't a game on a schedule that looms as anything other than a great challenge. In Week 1, the Eagles play a St. Louis team that suffered through a miserable 2007 season, but comes back healthier on offense, dangerous at the skill positions and out to prove it is one of the best teams in the NFC. Still, well, I like having the Rams come in early. I like having a home game to open the season for the first time since 2004. The Eagles will be ready to play.
Right away, you know the schedule is going to demand the best from this football team. Going to Dallas on Monday night in Week 2? What an awesome opportunity to show the league that the Eagles are back! Yeah, we are going to see about the Eagles defense right off the bat this season. Andy Reid has won big in Dallas since he has been the head coach, and in the team's final regular-season visit to Texas Stadium, the Eagles are going to have to slow down a Dallas offense that has a bunch of firepower.
Then it's back to Lincoln Financial Field to play the Steelers, a Super Bowl challenger from the AFC. A week later, the Eagles take to the road for a Sunday night game against Chicago.
Home. Away. Home. Away. The Eagles need to get in a rhythm despite the kooky times – 1 p.m. against the Rams on a Sunday, 8:30 in Dallas on a Monday, 4:15 against the Steelers on a Sunday and then 8:15 one week later in Chicago.
In Game 5, the Eagles return to Philadelphia to host the Redskins in a 1 p.m. battle. Don't overlook this game. Don't overlook any of them. The Redskins are going to be a good team this season.
Philadelphia wraps up its six-game stretch before the bye week with a game in San Francisco on October 12. Look, Reid's teams have played poorly in that final game before the bye week. They need to be a rebuilding 49ers team and get to the bye week at, what, 5-1? Four and two? Is that good enough. Nah, I want 6-0, but if the Eagles can jump out 5-1, they are off to the kind of good start they missed the last couple of seasons.
Then it's the bye week – which I think is very important, because coming back from the West Coast and preparing for a Sunday game is tough on the players and the coaches -- and more back and forth. In fact, the Eagles don't have back-to-back weeks at home all season. Very strange. They host Atlanta after the bye week and I expect the Eagles to come out snorting at that point. Right? Don't they always after a bye week? Then it's out to Seattle before coming home to play the Giants in another Sunday night game on November 9. Back-to-back games against AFC North teams – in Cincinnati (the team's final airplane trip of the regular season) and then in Baltimore.
A short week for the Eagles after the Baltimore game at least has them at home as the Cardinals have to come across the county and lose a day of preparation to play on Thanksgiving night on the NFL Network. Love it. Love it. Love it. While it's a short week for both teams, the Eagles don't have travel problems and can maximize their preparation hours, and on the other end it gives the Eagles a couple of extra days to get ready for a gigantic road game against the Giants on Sunday, December 7.
The final prime-time game is a winner, too – home with Cleveland on Monday, December 15. The Browns are legit playoff contenders and are going to play a physical game. Boy, it's been a while since we've seen the Browns in Philadelphia …
Anyway, the season ends with a pair of NFC East showdowns – at Washington on December 21 and then at home against Dallas on December 28. Those will be meaningful, emotional, outstanding games.
I'd love to give you my prediction on a record. I think the Eagles can win 'em all, but I'll take the approach that Reid takes and just think one game at a time. The Rams are in the crosshairs right now, the team that comes to Lincoln Financial Field to kick off a well-round, highly-anticipated and very, very visible regular season. Add in the preseason game against Carolina that is on national television and you get the idea: The Eagles are one of the league's marquee teams. Donovan McNabb is healthy and the NFL has taken notice. It's a great-looking schedule. I just can't wait to get it started.
