May 16, 2024
Tim Heitman/USA Today Sports
Quarterbacks Dak Prescott and Jalen Hurts will not be meeting in primetime this season.
The NFL schedule is here, which has dominated the sports landscape this week. Football is king. As I like to do here at PhillyVoice, I'm sharing five thoughts I have. This time, I'll tackle the Eagles' 2024 schedule...
Both of the Eagles' games against the Cowboys in Week 10 and Week 17 are currently scheduled for 4:25 PM. It's such a rarity that at least one of the team's two annual matchups isn't in primetime. Let's look at the history:
2023: Sunday Night Football in Texas (loss)
2022: Sunday Night Football in Philly (win)
2021: Monday Night Football in Texas (loss); Saturday Night Football in Philly (flexed, loss)
2020: Sunday Night Football in Philly (win)
2019: Sunday Night Football in Texas (loss)
2018: Sunday Night Football in Philly (loss)
2017: Sunday Night Football in Texas (win)
2016: Sunday Night Football in Texas (loss)
2015: Sunday Night Football in Texas (win)
2014: Thanksgiving in Texas (win), Sunday Night Football in Philly (loss)
2013: Sunday Night Football in Texas (flexed, win)
2012: Sunday Night Football in Texas (loss)
2011: Sunday Night Football in Philly (win)
2010: Sunday Night Football in Texas (win)
2009: Sunday Night Football in Philly (loss)
2008: Monday Night Football in Texas (win)
2007: Sunday Night Football in Texas (loss)
2006: Monday Christmas Game in Texas (win)
2005: Monday Night Football in Texas (loss)
2004: Monday Night Football in Texas (win)
Two decades!
Sure, perhaps one of these Eagles-Cowboys matchups could get flexed to primetime, but I would assume that FOX wants to protect those games for its afternoon "Game of the Week" window.
This is unfamiliar territory. For those wondering, the Eagles haven't had two 1:00 PM games against Dallas in the same season since 2003. A bygone era certainly.
Coming back to Philly in Week 2 with a home game against Atlanta, a real home game, feels like the correct course of action for the Eagles losing a “home” game in Week 1 to a cross-continent trip. Primetime Kirk Cousins in Week 2 at the Linc? That has not been a problem for the Birds the last two seasons. The Eagles defeated Cousins on national television in Week 2 in both 2022 and 2023 when he was with Minnesota.
If Jonathan Gannon and Sean Desai could shut down the Vikings' offense, then I have confidence in Vic Fangio doing so with Cousins' Falcons come September.
Week 5 is a super early bye week for the Eagles. It's the earliest they've had their bye week since 2016 when it came in Week 4. Those Eagles began the season 3-0 and finished 7-9. I understand people who wish the Eagles had a later bye week, but injuries are so unpredictable. If the Eagles were to have a key injury or two this summer or early in the season, that Week 5 bye could be clutch. It's much ado about nothing to me ultimately.
With some free time, Eagles fans will be treated to a pretty good slate around the league that week. Baltimore-Cincinnati, Buffalo-Houston and Green Bay-Los Angeles should all be entertaining.
The Eagles got crushed in 2023 with some back-loaded road matchups. After Week 12, they won’t have to get on a plane again until potentially the postseason. The Eagles need to go at least 2-2 in the four-game stretch of Dallas, Washington, Los Angeles and Baltimore (with ideally at least one of those wins being divisional) and they should be able to go on a nice run through Week 18.
Off any game that could be a playoff preview, I’m going Eagles-Rams. Eagles-Cowboys would be too boring of a pick, so I'll say the Birds face the Rams in the postseason for the first time since the 2001 NFC Championship Game. Rams head coach Sean McVay did a stellar job in 2023, rebounding from a 3-6 start to finish 10-7 and nab a Wild Card spot. Matthew Stafford put up great numbers and another year of development for Puka Nacua spells doom for opposing secondaries.
Let's say they meet in the divisional round in South Philadelphia, shall we?
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