Opening game almost always sees the previous season's Super Bowl winner hosting and it is kind of a homecoming for the "World" champions. The only exception in recent years was when the Bears hosted in 2019, to celebrate their 100th year. This has traditionally been lined up for the champs to win big before their own fans and with the nation watching and some poor sap opponent arriving for a beating . However, teams have been less willing to play the role of lamb to the slaughter since 2012, the SB champions were 9-0 going into that game, subsequently they are 7-5 and only covered more than a touchdown spread twice and there have been several big wins for the "sap".

 

The champion Philadelphia Eagles are hosting after going 14-3 in 2024 through the regular season and then winning four playoff games which is doing it the hard way, but effectively blowing away the Commanders in the Championship game (55-23) and the Kansas City Chiefs who were looking to make history with a first ever three-peat, in the Super Bowl (40-22). In the cold light of day, it was an incredibly impressive run.

 

Today they take on the Dallas Cowboys who had an annus horribilis last season, going 6-10, their first losing season since 2020 and after three straight years in which they finished with an identical 12-5 record. They also lost both games with the Eagles heavily, that was the first sweep for Philly in 13 years and sealed the fate for many staff and players in Dallas as the two teams are HUGE rivals. It was the last season under head coach Mike McCarthy who felt like a dead man walking for several seasons, but saw out his full five year contract. He was replaced by Brian Schottenheimer who stepped up from offensive coordinator, with Klayton Adams filling that role, after coming in from the Cardinals where he was very good at protecting the QB and helped upgrade the running game, both of which Dallas urgently needed help with. Matt Eberflus has taken over defensive duties after three years as head coach of the Bears, he previously had six years with the Cowboys, so knows how the franchise works........ which is pretty much owner Jerry Jones' way or the highway!

 

Eagles were just great in 2024 and have kept all their star players, which is unusual to a degree, but have a new offensive coordinator for the 4th straight season, after Kellen Moore moved to the head coach role with the New Orleans Saints and you cannot keep finding a gem.  Whilst all the stars are there, the depth on both sides of the ball has lessened and some of the "unseen " work might be an issue. Also, coaching levels are high in the NFL and all teams, especially those in the same division, will be better equipped to handle the Eagles this year. Just as importantly, no one wins the NFC East back to back, at least they haven't since 2004 and in the next season after the last six divisional wins for Philly, they have averaged 8.33 wins and we should expect some drop off.

 

Dallas are an unknown quality, they lost (super?) star defensive end Micah Parsons, but change was needed and they retain a deep edge rushing group threat and have improved their defensive interior and Eberflus has a lot to work with. They need to keep QB Dak Prescott fit and healthy and he will get better protection under the new offensive coordinator and if they can add some ground game balance, Prescott has some huge talent at WR to throw to in CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens ( a big trade from the Steelers) and Jalen Tolbert. He is not my favourite QB, but when he plays 9+ games he has never had a losing season and when he plays 16+ ( six seasons) he averages 10.5 wins. He was second in MVP voting in his last full season (2023),

 

They could make huge strides with the running game as despite there being no names that stand out on paper ATM, Adams has been good with the run at Arizona and Indianapolis and has got increased help with Conor Riley coming in as OL coach, he dominated the run-game ranks in college at Kansas State and he has a young RB group to work with . The pair of coaches must have had some say in the draft pick of Jaydon Blue who is extremely quick, the fastest in his position in the 2025 draft and it was not even close! If they find a ground game, that will be a big bonus.

 

In that last fit season for Prescott (2023), in the two games against the Eagles, CeeDee Lamb caught 17 passes for 262 yards and he has never really had a quality fellow receiver like Pickens to share the load and take away some of the coverage and Lamb could have a massive night.

 

 

 

Good luck!