September 08, 2024
Tim Heitman/Imagn Images
Eagles fans will hope Myles Garrett can harass Dak Prescott on Sunday.
Whenever your favorite team has already won their game during an NFL week, it is especially fun to watch the rest of the action around the NFL, stress free. Here we'll lay out a rooting guide for non-Eagles games on the NFL schedule for those of you on the fence while watching the other action around the league. And yes, I'm aware that most of the below is obvious. Ideal winners bolded.
• Cowboys at Browns: Duh. The Cowboys are the biggest threat to the Eagles in the NFC East, and their most hated rival. Next.
• Vikings at Giants: I think that there is some logic in hoping that the Giants win some games at some point so they miss out on all the top quarterback prospects in the 2025 draft, much like they did in the 2024 draft. That time is not now. It's best for the Eagles if the Giants just show right off the bat that they will suck this season, as expected.
• Commanders at Buccaneers: The Commanders at least have a shiny new rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels, so their fans have something to be excited about even if they aren't likely to win a lot of games. It would be ideal for the Eagles if the Commanders look like they have no chance of contending Week 1.
• Rams at Lions: This is a matchup between two projected NFC contenders, but the Lions are the bigger threat, in my opinion, so it's better in the Rams win.
• Panthers at Saints: Neither of these teams are contenders, but this game is relevant to the Eagles because they play the Saints Week 3. Saints fans were generally unhappy with their team's offseason, so a Week 1 loss could bring heaps of criticism and help their season go off the rails quickly.
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Jets at 49ers: This game is on Monday Night Football. It is the most relevant game to the Eagles among the NFC-AFC games. The 49ers are currently the "Big Bad" in the NFC, so any losses they suffer will be welcomed by all the other NFC teams. The other thing worth watching is if Haason Reddick re-joins the Jets, though it's extremely unlikely he'll play even if he does. The Eagles need Reddick to hit certain benchmarks for the third-round pick they acquired from the Jets to become a second-round pick.
The rest of the NFC teams below — the Falcons, Cardinals, Bears, and Seahawks — aren't presently thought to be serious contenders, and Eagles fans should want to keep it that way. The more losses those teams bank, the better.
The following bolded teams play the Eagles this season, so they're just worth keeping an eye on:
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