September 12, 2024
Kirby Lee/Imagn Images
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts scrambles against the Packers during the first half Friday night in Brazil.
Week 2 will bring the Eagles back to Lincoln Financial Field in primetime, and with Kirk Cousins' team coming to town.
Déjà vu, isn't it?
We've seen this scenario play out for the past two seasons now, and each time it ended in a dominant Eagles win and an amped South Philly crowd.
It'll be the Falcons – off of a very underwhelming opening loss to the Steelers – this time around instead of the Vikings, but the feeling is still the same going in, both based on the odds and our picks.
Check them out below...
TV: ESPN/ABC (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters), ESPN2 (Peyton Manning, Eli Manning)
RADIO: 94.1 WIP (Merrill Reese, Mike Quick)
| Sportsbook | Spread | Money Line | Total O/U |
| DraftKings | PHI -6.5 | ATL +240 PHI -298 | 48 |
| FanDuel | PHI -6.5 | ATL +240 PHI -295 | 47.5 |
| BetRivers | PHI -6 | ATL +220 PHI -275 | 48 |
| BetMGM | PHI -6.5 | ATL +240 PHI -300 | 48.5 |
| Bally's | PHI -6 | ATL +220 PHI -275 | 48 |
As noted in our five matchups to watch, Kirk Cousins, who suffered an Achilles tear last season, could barely move in the pocket, or step into throws Week 1. He was a sitting duck against the Steelers' pass rush.
The Falcons were one of the least impressive offenses in the NFL to start the season, and it's hard to imagine things immediately getting substantially better. The Eagles' defense wasn't exactly a juggernaut Week 1 in Brazil against the Packers, but they made enough plays against a good up-and-coming team to leave with a win.
On the other side of the ball, the Falcons don't have much of a pass rush, and they only have one good cornerback. That's not an ideal recipe against A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, who remain one of the best WR tandems in the NFL. Give me the Eagles, comfortably, 34-19.
I liked what I saw — even with a bevy of mistakes and turnovers — from the Eagles' offense and I expect them to put up some points in Week 2. I do not, however, have much confidence in the pass rush and some of the guys in the secondary, which is why I am expecting the Falcons to score a bit more than Nick and Shamus do (below). This is an opportunity for them to prove me wrong, but I would feel a lot better if I saw the quarterback, particularly one as immobile as Kirk Cousins, brought down a few times.
Kirk Cousins can't move. Atlanta's roster construction continues to be a head-scratcher year after year. This reminds me of the last two seasons where the Eagles came home after uneven, but victorious, Week 1 performances and then took care of business against Cousins' Vikings teams on national television. With Saint Nick Foles on hand for his retirement ceremony, the Eagles will not need that 2017-style luck to cruise past the Falcons with ease. How about the way the Linc is going to erupt when Saquon Barkley scores his first touchdown in midnight green in South Philly?
In Week 2 of 2022, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles got Kirk Cousins' Vikings on Monday Night Football at home and crushed them.
A year later – same week, same place, but on Thursday Night Football – the Eagles got the Vikings again and did the exact same thing.
The Eagles were uneven against the Packers last week in Brazil, and Hurts threw two picks that just didn't need to happen, but they still put up 34 points against a Green Bay team that's expected to be a contender, and Saquon Barkley was excellent in his debut.
The Falcons, meanwhile, couldn't move the football for anything, Cousins struggled and threw two picks himself, and Atlanta lost to an uninspiring Steelers team that beat them 18-10 on field goals alone.
It's a bad team coming to the Linc on Monday night, quarterbacked by Kirk Cousins in primetime.
The stage couldn't be more set for the Eagles to go off in this one.
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