This series started as an experiment during the bye week in 2019 and took off almost as fast as Anquan Boldin (At least I like to think it did). So as we begin the 2020 season I figured why not continue these posts while fully realizing that early on in the season they are nearly worthless. So bear with me while the season progresses and these provide more insight into the Bills quest not only to make the playoffs, not only towards an AFC East title, but more so towards a high seed possibly resulting in multiple home playoff games. Now, I present the first iteration of 2020 “Rooting Interest” posts. Included in this is the “Game Importance Scale” which will rate games from 👏👏👏👏👏 (Most Important) to 👏 (Least Important). Future iterations of this series will be posted weekly on Tuesday mornings.
NOTE: I do not consider ties or injuries for the sake of this discussion. Tiebreakers in order below are for overall standings.

1. H2H = Head to Head
   
2. WLC = Win/Loss in Conference
   
3. WLG = Win/Loss in Common Games min 4
   
4. SOV = Strength of Victory
   
5. SOS = Strength of Schedule
   

Texans @ Chiefs (Thursday 8:20PM) 👏 👏 👏
The day we had feared may not happen this year, is happening. FOOTBALL IS BACK! Early season games are more difficult to find an optimal outcome for because we just don’t know how good each team is. While there seems to be a national consensus that each of these teams will be competing in January we can’t know that for certain. What we do know is that the Bills play one of these teams this year thus our ol’ reliable SOV & SOS can be increased by that team winning the first game of the season.
Optimal Outcome: Chiefs’ Victory
Eagles @ Football Team (Sunday 1:00PM) 👏
The Eagles take on the Washington..Football Team? As of today the impact of this game on the Bills is negligible, with no tangible Optimal Outcome. Root for whoever you want here but because I need to pick someone I’m going to do so on the basis that I want to see Carson Wentz succeed.
Optimal Outcome: Eagles’ Victory
Dolphins @ Patriots (Sunday 1:00PM) 👏 👏 👏 👏
Ok. This one matters and I’ll be honest, I could see the Dolphins being a better team than the Patriots in 2020 but with Belichick still under the headset I can’t bet on it. What I know, we all know, and everyone else knows is that it’s about time that someone take the throne in the AFC East instead of the Patriots. I reserve the right to change the optimal outcome when these teams meet up again on December 20th but for week one that is where we will go.
Optimal Outcome: Dolphins’ Victory
Packers @ Vikings (Sunday 1:00PM) 👏
Similar to the Eagles & Football Team game this one pits two teams against each other who the Bills won’t see on the field in 2020. This is currently a toss-up, in regard to optimal outcome, but I saw an awful lot of hate tossed the Bills way from Stefon Diggs ex-team so for this week, at least, we go against them.
Optimal Outcome: Packers’ Victory
Colts @ Jaguars (Sunday 1:00PM) 👏 👏 👏
This is the only game in week one’s slate where I’ll directly use the preseason perception of a team as the decision on Optimal Outcome. One of these teams has talent scattered throughout the roster and added a borderline HOF QB (Debate?) the other, jettisoned two of its better players in a likely effort to upgrade a mustache ladened, cutoff jean-wearing, long-haired having QB by out-tanking every other bad team in a quest for Marissa Mowry’s fiancé. Root for the tanking team.
Optimal Outcome: Jaguars’ Victory
Bears @ Lions (Sunday 1:00PM) 👏
Tigers, Lions, and Bears oh my. This is yet another game that at this point in the season has nearly 0 impact on the Bills. The Optimal Outcome here is purely based on the fact that one of these teams allowed the Bills to use their stadium when Buffalo was pummeled by a snowstorm. I suggest we root for them.
Optimal Outcome: Lions’ Victory
Raiders @ Panthers (Sunday 1:00PM) 👏 👏
The Raiders traveling to Bills South makes for a double whammy here. AFC vs. NFC makes the optimal outcome of this one easy and rooting for our twins down south makes it a no brainer.
Optimal Outcome: Panthers’ Victory
Jets @ Bills (Sunday 1:00PM) 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏
1-0, that’s the goal. No fans in the stands will make for a weird atmosphere yet I imagine the Jete aren’t all that excited to drive into New York State. You all know the optimal outcome here so not to much more to say but for those interested look out for my “Matchup Preview” to be released early Friday morning.
Optimal Outcome: Bills’ Victory
Browns @ Ravens (Sunday 1:00PM) 👏 👏 👏
In week 1 there is not much context to formulate an optimal outcome for this game. What we do know is that the Browns have the talent to be a threat late in the season and the Ravens are returning a large portion of a roster that went 14-2 in 2019. This is a pick’em game, for now, but purely using last year as evidence root for the Ravens if your main concern is just making the playoffs and root for the Browns if you are concerned about playoff seeding. The Bills have higher aspirations this year than last so the optimal outcome is chosen accordingly.
Optimal Outcome: Browns’ Victory
Seahawks @ Falcons (Sunday 1:00PM) 👏 👏
More often than not two NFC teams playing each other has little impact on the Bills standing at the end of the season. The difference in this game is that the Bills play the NFC West in 2020 thus a win by that team increases their SOS with a possible increase to SOV. If this rarely used tiebreaker comes into play at the end of the season this week 1 game could have a major impact.
Optimal Outcome: Seahawks’ Victory
Chargers @ Bengals (Sunday 4:05PM) 👏 👏 👏
Similar to the Browns @ Ravens games the full meaning of this game lacks context until the season progresses. Can Tyrod Taylor make the Chargers competitive? Is there the remote possibility that Joe Burrow is as advertised and can lead the Bengals to their first playoff win since 1990? We will have to wait for those answers but what we do know is that the Bills play one of these teams so pumping up SOV & SOS early can’t hurt.
Optimal Outcome: Chargers’ Victory
Cardinals @ 49ers (Sunday 4:25PM) 👏 👏
One of those rare games where there are two NFC teams, both of whom the Bills play in 2020. SOS & SOV is a wash here so the optimal outcome is a pick’em. The Bills game should be over by now and if you are opting not to watch the Chargers @ Bengals game then watching this game is a solid second choice which should help further understand how difficult the Bills’ schedule is. For the sake of getting an Optimal Outcome I’ll root against the same team making the Superbowl two years in a row.
Optimal Outcome: Cardinals’ Victory
Buccaneers @ Saints (Sunday 4:25PM) 👏
The Bills play neither of these teams. Tom Brady plays for one of these teams. Don’t root for Tom Brady. That is all.
Optimal Outcome: Saints’ Victory
Cowboys @ Rams (Sunday 8:20PM) 👏 👏
Remember Thanksgiving last year? That was fun. Two NFC teams go at it in primetime here but only one of them the Bills play in 2020. Root for the same team the Bills dominated on Thanksgiving 2019 to lose for an early bump in SOS and possibly SOV.
Optimal Outcome: Rams’ Victory
Steelers @ Giants (Monday 7:15PM) 👏 👏
This a pretty cut and dry decision. AFC vs. NFC. The only thing that may give us pause here is that one of these teams is lying about what state they play in. Let’s set the saltiness aside and do what’s best for the Bills in 2020 here, we will deal with that lie at a later date.
Optimal Outcome: Giants’ Victory
Titans @ Broncos (Monday 10:10PM) 👏 👏 👏
Two AFC Teams. Two teams the Bills played in 2019. Two teams the Bills beat in 2019. Two teams the Bills play in 2020. It could be argued that outside of the Jets @ Bills and Dolphins @ Patriots this game could be the most important in Week 1 in regard to how 2020 will pan out for the Bills. The Optimal Outcome of this game may adjust as the season moves forward but for now this choice will factor in momentum with the idea that an early losing streak could be detrimental for the team the Bills play in Week 5 (As opposed to the one they play in Week 15).
Optimal Outcome: Broncos’ Victory
If all of these games went the optimal route below would be the updated AFC standings (All tiebreakers considered). For this week the assumption is that unknown tiebreakers go in the Bills favor:

1. Bills (1-0)**
   
2. Jaguars (1-0)**
   
3. Browns (1-0)**
   
4. Chiefs (1-0)**
   
5. Dolphins (1-0)*
   
6. Chargers (1-0)*
   
7. Broncos (1-0)*
   
8. Steelers (0-1)
   
9. Raiders (0-1)
   
10. Texans (0-1)
    
11. Bengals (0-1)
    
12. Titans (0-1)
    
13. Patriots (0-1)
    
14. Jets (0-1)
    
15. Colts (0-1)
    
16. Ravens (0-1)
    

** Division Leader
* Wildcard

Week 3/4 Summary

2020 just keeps coming, doesn’t it? I’m not sure how only two weeks of issue-free football lulled me into such a state of naivety regarding this NFL season, but for a minute there I really got fooled into thinking we were going to have a semi-normal year of football. Hell no. That all got blown to shit as the Titans had a massive outbreak immediately following Week 3’s victory in Minnesota. The last two weeks of waking up every morning to see new positive tests for the Titans locker room has been painful. There’s all sorts of talk about secret practice meetings ignoring the COVID protocols to toss some lighter fluid onto the national “FUCK TENNESSEE” fire that was already raging, and I have to say that I’m getting pretty upset at the organization’s management of this outbreak as well. Get it the fuck together guys! I do think we’re learning some new things about our testing and the spread of this virus. Namely how it can apparently take a long ass time for someone exposed to actually test positive. I think most of the team thought that if they isolated for a couple days and separated out the few positives, that they could just go back to business as usual. It makes me nervous for the Pats locker room, and the Chiefs that they played in Week 4…
All right, enough COVID gloom and doom, we’ve got the football that is happening to celebrate! My sincere apologies for slipping on the note last week, and for how late it’s going to be this week. Jessica and I have been weirdly busy with house issues and a few investment opportunities that we’re looking at, so I haven’t had my preferred amount of time to sit around an obsess about football (nor have I really cared to with how the news has been). But first I want to give a big shout out to Tee! Tee’s team damn near broke our single week scoring record in Week 3, by breaking 200 points! It may have only been by .27, but hey a 200-point week deserves big ups. The only other time it has been done that I’m aware of was Week 2 of the 2018 season by Stephen, with a 202.69 which remains standing as our league record. Nothing else notable happened in Week 3. Certainly not my team choking in the second half of the MNF game to lose to Randy by a few points. Definitely not that. So onto Week 4!
Lineup-decision-wise that probably the toughest week of fantasy football that has ever happened. We had the Titans game fully postponed to another week just a few days before kickoff, then no one knew if the Chiefs/Pats game was going to be played. Still kind of shocked they did with Cam testing positive Friday. So yeah, that could have sucked depending on your roster. My teams in other leagues were hammered like I know some folks were in this league. Randy’s team was down 3 starters all of a sudden… And yet he still managed to hang up 141 points with an injured Chris Godwin on the bench!!! The man shits fantasy football rainbows. Much more salt about that later. We had the biggest nail-biter matchup of the year so far in Clint vs. Tootie, so it’ll be fun to get into that one. Of all my fantasy teams, my team in this league was about the only one that performed, and HOLY SHIT did it perform! My lineup reads like a weekly high scorer list with Joe Mixon and Odell both racking up ~40 in Week 4. There’s my 2/3 picks! Through 4 weeks here Tee and Randy sit atop the two divisions as our only undefeated teams, and poor poor Travis remains our only winless team after a second straight sub-100 point week. Losing Cam for a couple weeks on top of the ever-questionable-then-last-minute-inactive WR1 Michael Thomas is not what the doctor ordered for TEAM CHAOS. Still way too early for a real playoff picture take, so let’s just hope this season continues to the point where I can start speculating about our top 4. Into the matchups we go!
Quick musical side note, Connor’s damn team name has that song stuck in my head EVERY. TIME. I write this note. So I suggest reading this while listening to what I’m singing to myself the entire time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB1D9wWxd2w
https://open.spotify.com/track/3jDdpx9PMlfMBS5tOBHFm9
you lied to me…

Matchup Rundown

Alex (1-3) vs. Jess C. (2-1): Sorry, Jess. This was a bad week to go up against the sweetened taters. THERE MY BOYS ARE! I knew they had it in ‘em. I’m actually in the top scoring matchup this week because I scored the most points and not my opponent! Side note, I have the most points scored against in this league by SIXTY! Been pissin’ me off! Thankfully, Joe Mixon and OBJ decided to do something about it to the tune of 81.78 points between the two of them. It definitely wasn’t all roses though, as I lost Nick Chubb to an early injury, and he has now been put on IR. So that blows. But this is 2020, so it was never going to be easy this year. Jess’s team was solid in this matchup, and the final score isn’t reflective of how scared I was for a while last weekend. Obviously the fact that every team that plays me this year scores 170+ played a role, but Jess’s team was set up to give me a run Sunday night. Jerrick McKinnon and Miles Sanders could’ve both easily had bigger games than they did in that sloppy 49ers/Eagles affair, and then she still had Calvin Ridley and Sammy Watkins to play on Sunday! Yeahhhh, about that. Calvin Ridley was the weeks biggest overall surprise, and not in a good way. He SHOCKED the football community by going without a single catch in the MNF game against the Packers. Mind blowing stuff after being the WR #1 coming into Week 4. Is Calvin Ridley giving fantasy managers the full Mike Evans experience? Jess falls to 2-2 with a solid team that will regain its leader in CMC at here some point, and watch out then. I FINALLY get into the win column and hope to have things headed in the right direction to a miserably unlucky start to the fantasy season.
Alex’s MVP: Joe Mixon (43.22) - There it is! The dude has been getting so much work, but doing so little with it. He was due to break through and get into the end zone for the first time of the season. I had no idea it would be THREE TIMES though! They were all impressive long run scores too, no goal-line gimmies. Can he spread this scoring out a bit into other weeks maybe though? 20 each week would be great instead of 8,10, 40!
Alex’s LVP: D.J. Moore (9.02) - DJ Bore has been a dud since I traded Travis for him. I really should’ve hung onto Justin Jefferson after that trade… No one won that trade at all, lol.
Jess’s MVP: Dak Prescott (39.53) - What a draft steal this team’s namesake has been so far this season. The Dallas defense is atrocious, so Dak is left to play hero ball all 2nd half each week these days. And holy shit, he is putting up stats like crazy! Half a point shy of his second 40 point game this season, and fantasy’s QB #1 at this point.
Jess’s LVP: Calvin Ridley (0.1) - OUCH! What the hell happened here… I watched that game, and I don’t know. He was targeted, but he either slipped and fell or Ryan just missed him by a mile every target I saw. A whole bunch of totally nameless guys caught passes from Matt Ryan, who looked terrible in that game. I guess Ridley won’t exactly be a rock solid WR1 this fantasy season after all.
Amanda (3-1) vs. Connor (1-3): Connor’s team is another one that just can’t seem to catch a break, but I think Amanda has herself a team this year! Connor’s team scored a respectable 124.5 but wasn’t even close to matching Amanda’s star power. As long as Dalvin Cook is active, she’s got a stud in the RB slot, and then her WRs are pretty incredible. Amari Cooper is balling out along with his QB (especially this week), while DK Metcalf and Robby Anderson have both been extremely pleasant surprises, and Devante Parker is only getting stronger as the season goes along. She has 3 of the top 12 WRs in fantasy scoring at the moment. Then oh yeah, her QB is Mahomes, and the TE is Ertz… So it wasn’t in the cards for Connor this week. He was hit by the Steelers having a surprise BYE and not being able to start JuJu, but the lack of depth on his team showed in having to FLEX Jimmy Graham. He’s lucky that turned into 7 points in my book. Fairly easy victory for Amanda with Connor’s Falcons stinking it up in MNF, and Kenyan Drake being one of the bigger bust candidates of the short season.
Amanda’s MVP: Amari Cooper (34.72) - Boy this is just turning into “start anyone you have for Dallas” season, huh? Not that Cooper isn’t an every week lock, but wow this offense. Cooper saw SIXTEEN targets as the Cowboys frantically tried to come back against the lowly Browns in their own building. Yay for Amari, but yikes for the Cowboys!
Amanda’s LVP: Mike Gesicki (2.56) - He’s got the team named after him and everything! C’mon Mike! Amanda threw in a sneaky FLEX of Gesicki against the Seahawks, who have been an opposition point machine until this week… I like the play, as I have been FLEXing Gesicki in another league where I’m struggling, but it backfired all over the place in Week 4.
Connor’s MVP: Adam Thielen (27.4) - Thielen was seriously impressive in the Vikings win over the Texans (which got BOB fired, finally). Weeks 2 and 3 were a bit concerning, but the connection with Cousins looks like it still has huge upside this year.
Connor’s LVP: Kenyan Drake (3.5) - Wow. I’m struggling to believe what a letdown Drake has been so far this year. They’ve completely gone away from throwing him the ball, and he’s doing shockingly little on the ground with his 15 carries every game. He’s the starting RB on an offense that’s been pretty good this year… Makes no sense. Chase Edmonds is creeping in on him and even looking like the more explosive player at this point.
Tootie (2-2) vs. Clint (2-2): Wow, what a close one. This result could have been different if any one of a thousand plays had gone differently last weekend. And there’s one big one that Clint REALLY wishes had gone differently: the Austin Ekeler injury. Ekeler leaving extremely early in the Chargers game leaving Clint with a 2.42 in a FLEX spot killed him here. He probably wins this by 15 if Ekeler doesn’t go down there, but them’s the breaks. Tootie wasn’t even close to setting her optimal lineup, and it really almost cost her. Luckily, she has some Saints on her team, primarily Alvin Kamara. Kamara is destroying this season as fantasy’s RB #1, and he pulled together with unlikely teammate hero Tre’Quan Smith to really bail Tootie out of having guys like Crowder and Harry on her bench. This came THE FUCK DOWN TO IT THOUGH! Both of these teams finished early for the week in the afternoon Sunday games, and Clint had Jonathon Taylor Thomas active in the Colts/Bears game after everything else was over to win it for him… 0.7 short. Brutal. It really wasn’t a great game for JTT, and his usage on the Colts is getting a bit confusing. Every week they seem to be violently changing their strategy on how much they use Hines and Wilkins. How to feel about that first round pick sure is a roller coaster! When the dust settled, Tootie squeaked out a W and gets back to .500, where Clint also finds his team.
Tootie’s MVP: Tre’Quan Smith (21.48) - I would give this to the old geezer at QB who scored the most points for Tootie’s team this week, but I think Tre’Quan Smith deserves it more. Gutsy 2nd-week-in-a-row start by Tootie here, and it paid off in unbelievable fashion. The gamble that Brees would actually give the guy a fantasy day with Thomas out was everything in a matchup she won by less than a point. Cheers to this one!
Tootie’s LVP: Darrell Henderson (4.72) - Just when you thought you could make sense of the Rams backfield, the committee strikes! Henderson honestly didn’t even play much in Week 4 after back to back 20 point weeks. Go figure. Something something McVay something something block scheming.
Clint’s MVP: DJ Chark Jr. (29.68) - I traded for the wrong DJ! Chark was banged up and missed a week there, but returned to action looking in full form as he hauled in 8 catches for 95 yards and 2 scores. Impressive stuff given the sluggish start.
Clint’s LVP: Jonathan Taylor (8.92) - I have to pick on him. He had a PERFECT chance to do something and win Clint this matchup, but it didn’t happen. He saw plenty of carries over the course of the game, but didn’t do a whole lot with those, and the single catch is concerning for elite fantasy output.
Tee (4-0) vs. Jessica H. (3-1): Our battle of undefeateds this week was a bit of a letdown in terms of total scoring, but it was pretty close. If all of Jessica’s team had shown up, it would have been really close… The Marvin Jones situation was a real puzzler (at least he outperformed Calvin Ridley!), but the Jeff Wilson start was a downright bad move. Jessica was out running some errands right about the time games were kicking, and when she came in saying she was starting Jeff Wilson, I thought she was joking. To start Wilson over all of John Brown, MVS, Tate, and Viska… Well that didn’t work out. Tee’s team was rock solid here, and did enough to get the job done, which is often what it comes down to. Allen Robinson was the stud of the week for him, but Kupp and Hunt each chipped in plenty as well. Hunt is particularly poised for success now with Nick Chubb out of the way for some period of time. So Tees team keeps rolling through the schedule so far! Let’s see how long he can keep it up!
Tee’s MVP: Allen Robinson (24.3) - The stud receiver that Tee thought he drafted has come back in force since I last wrote this note! Three straight weeks of great scores now (counting TNF in Week 5) for the target machine in Chicago. It looks like the promotion of Foles might actually be pretty beneficial for Robinson.
Tee’s LVP: DeAndre Hopkins (11.28) - Not much of any real duds for Tee’s team, so I’ll pick this off-week for the usually studly Hopkins. It was a bad week for the Cardinals offense, so I’m not expecting to see Hopkins much, or ever, in this slot for the rest of the season.
Jessica’s MVP: Mike Davis (22.22) - Wow, what a waiver pickup stud this guy has turned out to be. Watching Davis turn in these great scores every week is salt in the wound to those of us who deprioritized him in waivers, or just messed them up lol. Surely this won’t last when CMC returns, but for now this dude is an every week must-play. He’s getting the CMC workload, and looks shockingly good doing it! The Panthers are 2-0 with Davis at RB…
Jessica’s LVP: Marvin Jones Jr. (1.94) - Several good ones to choose from here, but I have to go with Marvin Jones. What the fuck has happened to this guy this season? I took him cheap in my school league this auction and luckily had already benched him for Week 4, but he was an obvious start for Jessica here. When he’s been healthy prior seasons, he’s been late round fantasy gold. A bit streaky, but the dude has always scored TDs in buckets. Nothing of the sort so far this year.
Doyle (1-3) vs. Travis (0-4): I think Doyle’s team had enough of my shit! This was an emphatic “NOT THE WORST TEAM” statement from the Padre squad. In fact if not for Travis’s pitiful point total, this matchup would have been much higher up in the breakdown with Doyle’s 2nd highest score of the week. Mike Evans and CeeDee Lamb were both great, but HOLY GEORGE KITTLE, BATMAN! That sloppy Philly game that the 9ers found a way to lose turned into the get-the-ball-to-Kittle show for the 4th quarter. I saw some absolutely insane comebacks in other leagues from this Kittle performance, so maybe don’t feel too bad you were never in this thing, Travis? Kittle would’ve just broken your heart if you had a decent 120-140 score. This was all with Daniel Jones blowing chunks in the QB slot for 8 points on Doyle’s team. Over on Travis’s side, well it was pretty much all suck. Chris Carson was great again! That was pretty much it. Injuries have ravaged this team, and now with Cam out for COVID, there wasn’t much hope here. Still, Lockett was a huge disappointment, AJ Green is officially a massive bust again, and Darius Slayton isn’t stepping up with Shepard out. Seems like this should have been a lot closer, but it was an epic blowout instead.
Doyle’s MVP: George Kittle (41.4) - Fifteen catches on fifteen targets for 183 yards and a score… Oh and he had an 8 yard carry, because the offense wasn’t revolving around him enough. There’s why I had him ranked as a top 20 overall pick this year!
Doyle’s LVP: Daniel Jones (8.85) - Starting Jones against the Rams D-front and Aaron Donold was a bold choice. It was terrible, but it was bold too. At least it was only 1 turnover.
Travis’s MVP: Chris Carson (25.08) - The lone bright spot in this lineup was at least pretty bright! Carson isn’t getting a huge workload, but it’s honestly super impressive he was on the field AT ALL. The dirty as shit tackle that was made on him the prior week was speculated to have him missing time, but fuck that said Chris Carson. This man has a contract to earn. He’s the RB #5 on the season so far.
Travis’s LVP: A.J. Green (1.4) - It’s time to call it, right? I think the Bengals are. Green finally gave way to some other WRs getting playing time in Week 4 after being the most inefficient WR in the NFL through 3 weeks. Mind you, he still saw 5 targets in this game, so there’s hope, right?! WRONG. He turned those 5 targets into one catch for 3 yards. Fucking gross.
Randy (2-0) vs. Stephen (0-2): What the fuck do I say about this debacle? A great week of fantasy football in our league was completely tainted by this putrid meeting between my dad, who in his third year of playing fantasy football apparently has zero clue how to do a single thing with his roster, and Stephen, who I’m comfortable saying has the most hopeless team in our league after four weeks. Sure, he’ll probably beat the shit out of me in Week 5 because I said this, but Stephen’s team is seriously awful, and there’s no hope for it. Travis has Michael Thomas coming back and some other hopefuls. Stephen has a bench comprised of so many turds that Adrian Peterson and Larry Fitzgerald are starters for him… I honestly don’t know whose bench upsets me more here. Stephen’s with zero upside but all cusp-roster guys, or Randy’s where Marlon fucking Mack is still sitting in a non-IR slot!!! Ughhhhhh. I guess since I don’t have anything nice to say, I’ll keep this short. Randy failed to make a single roster move, started an injured Chris Godwin over Darren Waller, and still won by 40 points. The points that Jamaal Williams, Hunter Renfrow, and Dalton Schultz combined for are so silly. He moves to 4-0 in a massive slap in the face to anyone putting actual thought into their lineup and roster. Stephen’s team is bad outside of the Chiefs and Stefon Diggs.
Randy’s MVP: Melvin Gordon (26.86) - With Aaron Jones taking a break with only ~20 points, it was Gordon’s turn to work miracles for Randy. Near half his points came on a last minute garbage time run with the game in hand. It’s hard for me to believe Gordon is almost a RB1 in the point rankings.
Randy’s LVP: Chris Godwin (0) - Hard to get any points when you aren’t playing.
Stephen’s MVP: Stefon Diggs (18.64) - Diggs is just hanging out in this spot for Stephen. He’s clocking in above Tyreek Hill as this team’s WR1 at this point. This was his second 100 yard receiving game of the season, and the Bills passing attack continues to impress.
Stephen’s LVP: Larry Fitzgerald (2.46) - I guess Larry Legend’s 1 point in Week 3 left Stephen with no choice but to fire him up in Week 4… There were 13 available free agent FLEX players that scored at least 10 points in Week 4. Just saying.

Week 5 Preview

Ok, so you thought Week 4 was a shitshow in terms of COVID delays and lineup unknowns? Welcome to Week 5, bitches! The 2020 NFL season is officially an exploration into MNF double headers and TUESDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL?!?!?!?! Oh man, let’s see how this goes… The Titans and Bills are currently set to play Tuesday night after the Titans haven’t seen positives for… a couple days. Right. I guess we’ll have another week of retro-active subs being an option? Ugh, this is getting messy. Hopefully we can cut out the locker room outbreaks from here out!
In the Josi league, we’ve got some good ones. Randy’s team is devastated by the Packers BYE and the Titans being only questionable to play, SO C’MON TOOTIE! He’s already started injured Chris Godwin in the TNF game, so please deal him a loss here. Travis takes on the mighty task of trying to get his first win while also handing Tee his first loss. It’s a long shot, but I’m not counting Travis out! The clear matchup of the week is a 3-1 battle between Amanda and Jessica H. Amanda’s team could assert some dominance over her closest competitor in the standings, or vice versa. I take on Stephen to try and get things rolling, but instead I’ll probably just be eating my words from this note about how terrible Stephen’s team is. Connor and Doyle will face off, and I honestly have no clue who I would bet on there. Doyle’s team is looking much more formidable with Kittle and Mostert potentially back in the lineup, but he’ll be missing Golladay again, this time on BYE. It will most definitely be a good one, because any weekend of football that we get at this point is amazing!
We’re into BYE season y’all. Packers and Lions are out this week.
Good luck in Week 5 everyone!

Philadelphia Eagles (1-2) at Green Bay Packers (3-0)

The Eagles will look to rebound on Thursday Night Football after back to back losses and a rash of injuries. After a disappointing loss to the Falcons in week 2, the Eagles followed up with another close loss in week 3 to the Detroit Lions. The Eagles backup WRs couldn’t get it together and overcome Alshon Jeffrey and Desean Jackson being out with injuries as they dropped the ball numerous times unlike my man catching babies and saving lives.. Week 4 isn’t going to get any easier, as the Eagles travel up to Green Bay to take on the Packers on short rest. The Packers have looked impressive in their first 3 starts dispatching their division rival Bears and Vikings followed by a nice win against the Broncos last week. Stopping Aaron Rodgers will be no easy task, especially with a secondary that is shorthanded with Ronald Darby slated to miss the game. The secondary was already giving up the 29th most passing yards in the league, as the highly touted DL has struggled to get to the quarterback this season. However, in a change from past seasons, the Packers have actually been winning games more often this year with their defense, which is creating turnovers and getting to the QB. Those are two things they did quite a bit last week vs the Broncos sacking Flacco 6 times and forcing 2 turnovers. The Eagles offense will need to protect the ball better this week after they put it on the turf twice last week versus the Lions. They will also need to do a better job protecting Carson Wentz as he was under duress the last two weeks. They should get some reinforcements back this week as both Alshon Jeffery and Dallas Goedert was listed as full participants, however the team will still be without speedy WR Desean Jackson who is out with an abdomen injury. Hopefully the Eagles will be able to escape this game without any further injuries as they have lost players at key positions in each of the first 3 games. Here is to an injury free and hopefully better officiated game than last week. Go Birds.!

General Information
Posting Rules and Guidelines
Remember to Join us on Discord during the game!
New to the Eagles? Take a look at our New Fan Page!

Date
Thursday, September 26th, 2019

Game Time	Game Location
8:20 PM - Eastern	Lambeau Field
7:20 PM - Central	1265 Lombardi Ave
6:20 PM - Mountain	Green Bay, WI 54304
5:20 PM - Pacific	Wikipedia - Map

Weather Forecast
Stadium Type: Open Air
Surface: Grass
Temperature: 59°F
Feels Like: 59°F
Forecast: Partly Cloudy. Partly cloudy throughout the day.
Chance of Precipitation: 0%
Cloud Coverage: 42%
Wind: Southwest 8 MPH

Betting Odds
Oddsshark Information
Favorite/Opening Line: Green Bay by -5
OveUnder: 45
Record VS. Spread: Philadelphia 0-3, Packers 3-0

Where to Watch on TV
FOX/NFL Network will broadcast Thursday’s game to a national audience. Joe Buck will handle the play-by-play duties and Troy Aikman to provide analysis. Erin Andrews and Kristina Pink will report from the sideline.
TV Map - Week 4TV Coverage Map

Internet Streams
NFL Streams - Look here 30 minutes before the game for Streams
Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime - Andrea Kremer will handle play-by-play duties and Hannah Storm will provide analysis.

Radio Streams
Disclaimer: Subscription Based Official NFL Radio Streams available via TuneIn
List of Eagles Radio network member stations with internet broadcast availability
Radio.com 94.1 Desktop Streaming

Listen to Merrill Reese and Mike Quick
Calling the game on 94WIP and the Eagles Radio Network will be Merrill Reese, the NFL’s longest-tenured play-by-play announcer (42nd season). Joining Reese in the radio booth will be former Eagles All-Pro wide receiver Mike Quick, while Howard Eskin will report from the sidelines.

Location	Station	Frequency
Philadelphia, PA	WIP-FM	94.1 FM and 610 AM
Allentown, PA	WCTO-FM	96.1 FM
Atlantic City/South Jersey	WENJ-FM	97.3 FM
Levittown, PA	WBCB-AM	1490 AM
Northumberland, PA	WEGH-FM	107.3 FM
Pottsville, PA	WPPA-AM	1360 AM
Reading, PA	WEEU-AM	830 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WAFL-FM	97.7 FM
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA	WEJL-FM	96.1 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WAFL-FM	97.7 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WEJL-AM	630 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WBAX-AM	1240 AM
Williamsport, PA	WBZD-FM	93.3 FM
Wilmington, DE	WDEL-FM/AM	101.7 FM
York/LancasteHarrisburg, PA	WSOX-FM	96.1 FM

Philadelphia Spanish Radio
Rickie Ricardo, Bill Kulik and Luis Torres will handle the broadcast in Spanish on WTTM 1680 AM in Philadelphia and the Eagles Spanish Radio Network.

Location	Station	Frequency
Philadelphia, PA	LWTTM	1680 AM
Allentown, PA	WSAN	1470 AM
Atlantic City, NJ	WIBG	1020 AM; 101.3 FM

Packers Radio Network

Packers Radio Network Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren enter their 21st season of broadcasts together across the Packers Radio Network in 2019. They surpassed Jim Irwin and Max McGee for the most regular-season and postseason games broadcast for the Packers with 313 at the 2018 season opener against Chicago. WTMJ, which has been broadcasting the team’s games since November 1929, continues its long-standing role as the flagship station of the Packers Radio Network.

National Radio
Westwood One will carry the game nationally with Ian Eagle (play-by-play) and Tony Boselli(analyst).

Satellite Radio

Station	Eagles Channel	Packers Channel
Sirius Radio	SIRI 81(Streaming 825)	SIRI 83(Streaming 811)
XM Radio	XM 225 (Streaming 825)	(XM 226 (Streaming 811)
Sirus XM Radio	SXM 225 (Streaming 825)	SXM 226(Streaming 811)

Eagles Social Media	Packers Social Media
Website	Website
Facebook	Facebook
Twitter	Twitter
Instagram	Instagram
Snapchat: Eagles	Snapchat: packers

NFC East Standings

NFC EAST	Record	PCT	Home	Road	Div	Conf	PF	PA	Net Pts	Streak
Cowboys	3-0	1.000	2-0	1-0	2-0	2-0	97	44	+53	3W
Eagles	1-2	.333	1-1	0-1	1-0	1-2	76	78	-2	2L
Giants	1-2	..333	0-1	1-1	0-1	1-1	63	94	-31	1W
Redskins	0-3	.000	0-1	0-2	0-2	0-3	63	94	-31	3L

Series Information
The Green Bay Packers lead Philadelphia Eagles in the series: 28-16 (14-27 regular season, 2-1 postseason).
Series History
Head to Head Box Scores
First Game Played
October 29th, 1933 at City Stadium, Green Bay, WI. Philadelphia Eagles 9 – Green Bay Packers 35
Points Leader
The Green Bay Packers lead the Philadelphia Eagles (919-740)
Coaches Record
Doug Pederson: 0-1 against the Packers
Matt LaFleur: This will be LaFeur’s first game against Eagles
Coaches Head to Head
Doug Pederson vs Matt LeFleur: This will be the first meeting between the coaches
Quarterback Record
Carson Wentz: Against Packers: 0-1
Aaron Rodgers: Against Eagles: 4-1
Quarterbacks Head to Head
Carson Wentz vs Aaron Rodgers: Rodgers leads 1-0
Records per Stadium
Record @ Lincoln Financial Field: Eagles lead Packers 4-3
Record @ Lambeau Field: Packers lead 11-5

Rankings and Last Meeting Information
AP Pro 32 Ranking
Eagles No. 16 - Packers No. 5
2019 Record
Eagles: 1-2
Packers 3-0
Last Meeting
Monday, November 28th, 2016
Eagles 13 - Packers 27
Rodgers came out firing and led the Packers on consecutive touchdown drives to start the game. Rodgers extended the opening drive by running twice for 25 yards and tossed a 12-yard TD pass to Adams for a 7-0 lead. After the Eagles answered on Wentz's 1-yard TD run , Rodgers led another 75-yard scoring drive. He threw a perfect 20-yard TD pass to Adams to give the Packers a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter. Nolan Carroll had excellent coverage on the play, but Rodgers put the ball in a tight spot and hit Adams in stride in the back of the end zone. A Green Bay run in the 4th extended the Packer lead to 24-13 and the Packers added a late Mason Crosby FG for a 27-13 win.
Click here to view the Video Recap
Click here for box score
Last Meeting at Site
Sunday, November 16th, 2014
Eagles 20 - Packers 53
The matchup of NFC contenders quickly turned lopsided after Green Bay took a 30-6 halftime lead. Rodgers threw for two touchdowns in the first half, while Micah Hyde scored on a 75-yard punt return. The Packers easily took care of the Chip Kelly led Eagles and completely shutdown the fast paced gimmick offense. The game was pretty much decided in the 3rd when Julius Peppers returned a Mark Sanchez pass 52 yards to give the Packers a 39-6 lead. Rodgers passed for 341 yards and three touchdowns, Lacy accounted for two scores, and the Packers defense stuffed the high-octane Philadelphia Eagles for a 53-20 win Sunday. It was the second time the Eagles allowed 50+ points under Chip Kelly, who is the only coach in team history to allow 50+ at least 2 times.
Click here to view the Video Recap
Click here for box score

Last 10 Meetings

Date	Winner	Loser	Score
11/28/16	Packers	Eagles	27-13
11/16/14	Packers	Eagles	53-20
11/10/13	Eagles	Packers	27-13
01/09/11	Packers	Eagles	21-16
09/12/10	Packers	Eagles	27-20
09/09/07	Packers	Eagles	16-13
10/02/06	Eagles	Packers	31-9
11/27/05	Eagles	Packers	19-14
12/05/04	Eagles	Packers	47-17
01/11/04	Eagles	Packers	20-17

Injury Reports	Depth Charts
Eagles	Eagles
Packers	Packers

2019 “Expert” Picks
Week 4 - "Expert" Picks

2019 Team Stats
Eagles Season Stats
Packers Season Stats

2019 Stats (Starters/Leaders)

Passing

Name	CMP	ATT	PCT	YDS	TD	INT	RAT
Wentz	72	118	61.0%	803	6	2	91.2
Rodgers	57	93	61.3%	647	4	0	96.5

Rushing

Name	ATT	YDS	YDS/G	AVG	TD
Sanders	34	106	35.3	3.1	0
Jones	46	174	58.0	3.8	3

Receiving

Name	REC	YDS	YDS/G	AVG	TD
Ertz	17	190	63.3	11.2	0
Adams	15	198	66.0	13.2	0

Sacks

Name	Sacks	Team Total
Jernigan/Sendejo	1.0	2
Smith	4.5	12

Tackles

Name	Total	Solo	Assist	Sacks
Bradham	15	11	4	0
Martinez	32	23	9	1.0

Interceptions

Name	Ints	Team Total
Darby/Gerry/Jones	1	3
King/Savage/Smith/Amos	1	4

Punting

Name	ATT	YDS	LONG	AVG	NET	IN 20	TB	BP
Johnston	7	363	54	50.7	46.0	5	0	0
Scott	21	1021	66	48.6	43.7	9	3	0

Kicking

Name	ATT	MADE	%	LONG	PAT
Elliot	4	4	100.0%	41	6/6
Crosby	4	3	75%	42	7/7

Kick Returns

Name	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Sanders	5	106	21.2	29	0
Spencer	1	60	60	60	0

Punt Returns

Name	RET	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD	FC
Sproles	6	56	9.3	17	0	2
Davis	3	1	.333	1	0	8

League Rankings 2019

Offense Rankings

Category	Eagles Stat	Eagles Rank	Packers Stat	Packers Rank
Total Offense	365.0	13th	286.7	28th
Rush Offense	99.7	17th	89.3	24th
Pass Offense	265.3	12th	197.3	27th
Points Per Game	26.0	9th(t)	19.3	23rd(t)
3rd-Down Offense	56.3%	2nd	25%	29th
4th-Down Offense	42.9%	14th(t)	0%	22nd(t)
Red Zone Offense (TD%)	58.3.0%	14th(t)	85.7%	2nd(t)

Defense Rankings

Category	Eagles Stat	Eagles Rank	Packers Stat	Packers Rank
Total Defense	3350.7	16th(t)	328.313th
Rush Defense	57.0	2nd	131.0	25th
Pass Defense	293.7	29th	197.3	5th
Points Per Game	26.0	23rd(t)	11.7	2nd
3rd-Down Defense	37.8%	13th	34.9%	10th
4th-Down Defense	100%	25tht)	25.0%	10th(t)
Red Zone Defense (TD%)	50%	9th(t)	33.3%%	4th

Team

Category	Eagles Stat	Eagles Rank	Packers Stat	Packers Rank
Turnover Diff.	-2	23rd(t)	+6	1st
Penalty Per Game	5.7	3rd(t)	7.7	18th(t)
Penalty Yards Per Game	48.3	4th(t)	53.0	8th(t)

Connections
Eagles HC Doug Pederson played 8 seasons with the Packers a backup to HoF QB Brett Farve in two stints from 1995-1998 and 2001-2004.
Eagles LB coach Ken Fajole was the Defensive quality control coach for the Packers in 1998.
Eagles safeties coach Tim Hauck played 4 seasons with the Packers from 1991-1994.
Eagles assistant TE coach Mike Bartrum played 1 season for the Packers in 1995.
Eagles LS Rick Lovato (not husband to Demi) played one season for the Green Bay Packers in 2015.
Packers CB Chandon Sullivan played one season for the Eagles in 2018.
Packers DC Mike Pettine is from Doylestown, PA and was an all-state QB at CB West High School. He also coached North Penn and William Tennent High Schools. He is the son of legendary PA High School Football Coach Mike Pettine Sr. who coached CB West Football for 33 seasons with a record 326-42-4 and won 4 state titles.
Josh McCown lists the Green Bay Packers as one of the few teams he has not played for in his career.

Recap from Last Week’s Games.
Eagles
Video The Eagles offense finally got some points on their first possession with a field goal by Jake Elliott, only to have the following kickoff returned for a touchdown. The Eagles offense struggled to get anything going all day without both their starting WRs. The team was plagued by fumbles and dropped passes throughout, and some questionable refereeing did not do that any favors. One missed call was particularly bad was it was only the most egregious facemasks in the history of the game as Miles Killebrew ripped off Eagles RBs Miles Sanders helmet on a kick return. The blantant miss was the same ref Todd Prukup who missed the PI in the Rams Saints NFCCG game last season. The Eagles still had a shot for the W after Malcom Jenkins blocked a Matt Prater FG with 1:53 to go in the game, but the Eagles offense came up short in the 27-24 loss as a drop by rookie JJ.J. Arcega-Whiteside dropped a first down catch with 41 seconds left as the Eagles fell 27-24.
Packers
Video The Packers looked strong in a win against the struggling Broncos. Aaron Rodgers found Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a 40-yard strike on the opening drive and finished 17 of 29. Rodgers threw for 253 yards and a touchdown while Aaron Jones made it look easy on the ground getting into the endzone twice. On the other side of the balls Joe Flacco was not so lucky as the Packers got to the QB 6 times including 3 by Preston Smith who matched a career high. The Packers new looked defense forced 3 turnovers to take the team to +6 in that category which is good for first in the league.

2019 Pro Bowlers

Eagles	Packers
DT Fletcher Cox (Starter)WR Devante Adams
OG Brandon Brooks (Starter)	QB Aaron Rodgers
TE Zach Ertz (Starter)
SS Malcom Jenkings (1st Alt)
OT Lane Johnson (1st Alt

General
Referee: Clay Martin
Philadelphia has posted a 5-5 (.500) record in its last 10 regular-season games vs. Green Bay. The last time the Eagles defeated the Packers was on 11/10/13 in a 27-13 victory at Lambeau Field.
The Eagles are the only team to defeat Vince Lombardi's Packers in the playoffs when they defeated the Packers 17-13 in the 1960 NFL Championship game.
In the divisional round of the 2003-04 playoffs, the 4th-seeded Packers led the top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles 17-14 with only 1:12 left to go. After an incompletion, a 5 yard penalty, a sack and another incompletion, the Eagles seemed to be finished, facing an impossible down and distance. But, on the now-famous "4th and 26" play, a slant route to wide receiver Freddie Mitchell got them just enough yardage for the first down, and they were able to tie the game and take it into overtime. The went on to win the game 20-17 after another field goal from kicker David Akers.

Draft Picks

Eagles	Packers
OT Andre Dillard	LB Rashan Gary
RB Miles Sanders	S Darnell Savage Jr.
WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside	C Elgton Jenkins
WR Shareff Miller	TE Jace Sternberger
QB Clayton Thorson(I suck and am a Cowboy Now)	DE Kingley Keke
	CB Ka’dar Hollman
	RB Dexter Williams
	LB Ty Summers

Notable Off-season Additions

Eagles	Packers
WR Desean Jackson	S Adrian Amos
DT Malik Jackson	LB Preston Smith
DE Vinny Curry	LB Za’Darius Smith
S Andrew Sendejo	G Billy Turner
LB Zach Brown	CB Chandon Sullivan
DT Hassan Ridgeway	CB Tremon Smith

Notable Off-season Departures

Eagles	Packers
QB “Big Dick” Nick Foles	DE Mike Daniels
DE Michael Bennett	LB Nick Perry
DE Chris Long	WR Randall Cobb
S Chris Maragos	OLB Clay Matthews
RB Jay Ajayi	TE Lance Kendricks
RB Josh Adams	SS Kentrell Brice
RB Wendell Smallwood	CB Brashuad Breeland
WR Jordan Matthews	ILB Jake Ryan
DT Haloti Ngata

Milestones
Eagles QB Carson Wentz (76) needs 1 passing TD to move out of a tie at 6th on the Eagles all-time passing TDs list moving ahead of Sonny Jurgenson.
Eagles TE Zach Ertz (29) needs 2 TDs to move up to 11th on the Eagles all-time receiving TD list all-time tying WR Jack Ferrante and Brent Celek
Eagles WR Desean Jackson (34) needs 2 TDs to move into a tie for 7th on the Eagles all-time receiving TD list tying Jeremy Maclin.
Eagles WR Desean Jackson (6271) needs 194 yards to move up to 3rd on the Eagles all-time receiving yard list to moving ahead of Mike Quick.
Eagles RB Darren Sproles needs 35 yards to move up to 5th on the NFL’s all-time all-purpose yards list passing WR Tim Brown.
Eagles S Malcolm Jenkins's (4) needs 1 more Interception for a TD to tie CB Eric Allen (5) for most Interceptions for a TD by an Eagles player.
Packers WR Devante Adams needs 1 TD to move up to 12th on the Packers all-time receiving TD list tying Boyd Dowler and two TDs to move up to 11th tying Randall Cobb.
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers needs 54 rushing yards for 3000 career rushing yards.

Stats to Know
2019 Packers’ Running by Direction
So far in 2019, the Packers have been averaging the greatest Yards Per Attempt when rushing in the gap between the Center and Right Guard (4.3 YPA) and outside the Right Tackle (5.0 YPA). However, the Packers will be facing Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham in those gaps, which is theoretically a win for the Eagles. When rushing anywhere to the left side, the Packers have been averaging fewer than 3.0 YPA, aside for the gap between the Center and Left Guard (3.6 YPA). Given the situation at RDT--Malik Jackson and Tim Jernigan injured-- and RDE--Barnett’s ankle not 100%--we could possibly see the Packers switch things up this game, despite the Eagles only giving up 57.0 yards per game and 2.9 yards per attempt.

Matchups to Watch
Eagles vs Themselves
It’s probably a little unfair to the Packers and their fans to list this first given their 3-0 start but it is relevant to this contest and the way the season started for the Eagles. There are a lot of reasons the Eagles could win or lose on Thursday, but they likely won’t have a chance to right the ship if they can’t get out of their own way. Even on a day with a depleted WR core, the coaches got this offense off to a good start with receivers open constantly only for them to drop or fumble the ball. The Eagles scored 10 first quarter points… only to trail by 10 at the half. The coaching staff did a lot of good Sunday to win the game on Sunday in spite of the player’s best efforts to lose it. It’s only week 4; there is still plenty of time for the Eagles to get going and make the playoffs. However, this early deficit they put themselves in could become problematic later in the season, especially if they drop their 3 conference game in as many weeks. It’s tough to call a week 4 game must win but this may be as close as it gets. The Eagles need to play and coach a cleaner brand of ball to help win the game. Consistency would be a welcome change but at this point we are asking too much. Don’t make an already difficult task more challenging.
Packers Pass Rush vs Eagles Offensive Line
The Packers have revamped their defense considerably over the last two offseasons and is one of the better units in the league as result. Not only did they add a lot of exciting players, they are well-coached. Mike Pettine is a very creative defensive coordinator that has done a great job on the young season. We saw the Packers become an aggressive team on the open market for the first time ever; rumor has it they realized they had Aaron Rodgers at QB and a championship window that was still open. The offseason splurge saw them lose the near-washed Clay Matthews and add Preston Smith (Redskins) and Za’Darius Smith (Ravens). Some people were critical of the signings given the lack of top-end track record with both guys. While I do think the overall point that free agency can help inflate salaries, The Smiths have been dynamic for Green Bay in their defensive turnaround. Preston Smith was a player I’ve always liked given his elite athleticism (84th Percentile) and length. Washington used him predominantly on the right side and he had modest production. Maybe the switch to Green Bay has quickly provided better coaching given his hot start, but he’s also used on both sides of the formation much more so that he was in years past. Za’Darius Smith is moved around even more than Preston to try and exploit matchups in the trenches. Both guys are quickly becoming valuable contributors. Additionally, there is the rapidly ascending Kenny Clark manning the interior and he’s a handful to deal with on a per snap basis. Clark is one of the quickest and strongest Interior Defensive Lineman in the NFL and can completely take over a game. Philadelphia has the talent on the offensive line to be able to handle the depth of talent on this Green Bay front. Pettine is also creative in his rush packages so it’ll be important for this OL to play smart in a tough environment. They also need to remain consistent. The offensive line was 9th best in pressure rate allow in week 1 and 12th in week 3 – in week 2 they were 23rd. Another road contest with a more exciting DL than what they’ve faced presents another challenge for the Eagles. This is strength vs strength matchup with the Eagles really needing their guys to continue with most of the good things they’ve done on the young season.
Packers Secondary vs Eagles Receivers
This section should be titled Hands vs. Eagles Receivers but it’s necessary to discuss the matchups available for Eagles against this secondary. The Packers have two young first round picks in this secondary that have the potential to be top 5 (or top 3) players at their positions in the NFL for a long time. Jaire Alexander, 2018 1st round selection, is rapidly ascending the CB ladder. He has everything you want in a corner: he can play press man or in zone coverage. He’ll follow a team’s best receiver all day possessing some of the best balls skills you’ll see in a corner. Lastly, he has swag for days. He’s a very difficult matchup for any receiver and one of my favorite players in the league to watch. Darnell Savage, 2019 1st round selection, is already a valuable safety prospect capable of playing any assignment you ask of him. He can cover in man and zone while also possessing great ball skills. This duo will form the backbone of the Packers secondary for years and are a significant challenge for the Eagles right now. Fortunately, Philly will likely have Alshon Jeffery back in the line-up after effectively missing two games with a calf injury. He’ll likely see a lot of Jaire Alexander which will free up the Eagles receivers against lesser members of the Packers secondary. Tramon Williams has been pretty good in the slot but is beatable with the other Eagles receivers. The real target for the Eagles in this one will likely be Kevin King, who likely dun wun it. King has struggled in his career and 2019 isn’t any different. The Eagles will also likely see Dallas Goedert take more meaningful snaps on Thursday further helping the cause. This is a tricky match up given the top end talent on the Green Bay roster. Philly will likely be better equipped to handle it Thursday but as we’ve seen through 3 games, that doesn’t mean much.
Packers Passing Attack vs Eagles Pass Defense
I think everyone in Philly “hate loves” this defense. There are certainly problems with the talent and holes in the scheme, but this defense rises to the occasion time and again bailing out the offense. This facet of the Eagles defense will be under the microscope with the future Hall of Fame QB Aaron Rodgers fully healthy. Green Bay hasn’t had an efficient or prolific passing attack in sometime but Rodgers is still an all-world passer capable of embarrassing our secondary. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s done it to us either – we were shredded in Philly back in 2016. Moreover, Davante Adams has taken a big step forward and is one of the best receivers in the NFL. He isn’t just some jump ball machine – although he can get the ball - he’s one of the more nuanced route runners in the league and usually always open with that large catch radius. While the Packers lack a real threat at WR2, they have young guys capable of making big plays when called upon. Sidney Jones, Avonte Maddox, and Rasul Douglas will all get real shots to prove their worth the next few weeks with Darby out and they draw a challenging matchup in a big spot Thursday. While Matt LaFleur is still working out the kinks in Green Bay, I think he has the ability to much more capable with modern NFL offenses than his predecessor Mike McCarthy. Time will tell if Discount McVay can become a top flight head coach. For right now, his offense and personnel present a challenge for Philadelphia.

Special thanks to MikeTysonChicken and abenyishay for their help in creating this Game Preview.

Atlanta Falcons (11-6) at Philadelphia Eagles (13-2)

After earning a first round bye the Eagles head into their divisional round game against the Atlanta Falcons as 2.5 point underdogs despite being the number 1 seed and playing at home. Much of this is because the Eagles are replacing second team All-Pro Carson Wentz with backup Nick Foles who struggled in the final two games of the season. This will not be Foles's first playoff game though, as a starter for the Eagles in 2013 where he was 23-of-33 passing for 195 yards and two touchdowns and led a potential game winning drive to take the lead with 4 minutes left before the Saints marched back with a last second field goal. The Eagles also still boast a top 5 defense in points and total offense and the number one defense against the run. The team will be rested and look to prove those in Vegas wrong when they come out at home on Saturday where they went 7-1 this season with the one lost coming while the starters rested. The matchup won't be easy though, the Atlanta Falcons have been hot of late and winning 7 of 9 down the stretch and only allowing 17.4 points a game in that span. Atlanta's high powered offense took a step back this season with the loss of Kyle Shanahan, but Matt Ryan can still sling and it and he still has one of the best WRs in football in Julio Jones on the outside. Jones had 10 receptions for 135 yards in the last meeting between the teams, last season, but the rest of the Falcons offense was largely shutdown in the Eagle win. The Eagles may look to take a page out of the playbook from that game last season where they rushed the ball 38 times for 208 yards and dominated time of possession 38:10 to the Falcons 21:50. Jay Ajayi could be key as he rushed for 130 yards on 26 carries against the Falcons earlier this season when he was on the Dolphins. If the Eagles can run the ball successfully against the Falcons it will go a long way in getting a win on Saturday especially if the defense can play up to their potential and get pressure on Matt Ryan.

General Information
Posting Rules and Guidelines
Remember to join us on Slack during the game!
Click here to register for Slack.
New to the Eagles? Take a look at our New Fan Page!

Date
Saturday, January 13, 2018

Game Time	Game Location
4:35 PM - Eastern	Lincoln Financial Field
3:35 PM - Central	1020 Pattison Ave
2:35 PM - Mountain	Philadelphia, PA 19148
1:35 PM - Pacific	Wikipedia - Map

Weather Forecast
Stadium Type: Open
Surface: Grass
Temperature: 34°F
Feels Like: 25°F
Forecast: Mostly Cloudy. Heavy rain in the morning
Chance of Precipitation: 7%
Cloud Coverage: 67%
Wind: NNW 13 MPH

Betting Odds
Oddsshark Information
Favorite/Opening Line: Atlanta by -2.5
OveUnder: 41
Record VS. Spread: Philadelphia 10-6, Atlanta 8-9

Where to Watch on TV
NBC will broadcast Saturday’s game. Al Michaels will handle the play-by-play duties and Cris Collinsworth will provide analysis. Michele Tafoya will report from the sidelines.
TV Map – N/A All games televised nationally.

Internet Streams
NFL Streams - Look here 30 minutes before the game for Streams

Radio Streams
Disclaimer: Subscription Based Official NFL Radio Streams available via TuneIn
List of Eagles Radio network member stations with internet broadcast availability
Radio.com 94.1 Desktop Streaming

Listen to Merrill Reese and Mike Quick
Calling the game on 94WIP and the Eagles Radio Network will be Merrill Reese, the NFL’s longest-tenured play-by-play announcer (41st season). Joining Reese in the radio booth will be former Eagles All-Pro wide receiver Mike Quick, while Howard Eskin will report from the sidelines.

Location	Station	Frequency
Philadelphia, PA	WIP-FM	94.1 FM and 610 AM
Allentown, PA	WCTO-FM	96.1 FM
Atlantic City/South Jersey	WENJ-FM	97.3 FM
Levittown, PA	WBCB-AM	1490 AM
Northumberland, PA	WEGH-FM	107.3 FM
Pottsville, PA	WPPA-AM	1360 AM
Reading, PA	WEEU-AM	830 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WAFL-FM	97.7 FM
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA	WEJL-FM	96.1 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WAFL-FM	97.7 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WEJL-AM	630 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WBAX-AM	1240 AM
Williamsport, PA	WBZD-FM	93.3 FM
Wilmington, DE	WDEL-FM/AM	101.7 FM
York/LancasteHarrisburg, PA	WSOX-FM	96.1 FM

Philadelphia Spanish Radio
Rickie Ricardo, Macu Berral and Gus Salazar will handle the broadcast in Spanish on Mega 105.7 FM in Philadelphia and the Eagles Spanish Radio Network.

Location	Station	Frequency
Philadelphia, PA	LA MEGA	105.7 FM
Allentown, PA	WSAN	1470 AM
Atlantic City, NJ	WIBG	1020 AM; 101.3 FM

Atlanta Radio
Falcons Radio Network Wes Durham will handle the play-by-play duties and Dave Archer will provide analysis.

National Radio
Westwood One John Sadak (play-by-play) and Tony Boselli (analyst) will call the game broadcast. Ross Tucker will report from the sidelines.

Satellite Radio

Station	Eagles Channel	Falcons Channel	National Channel
Sirius Radio	SIRI 82 (Internet 825)	SIRI 83 (Internet 801)	SIRI 88 (Internet 88)
XM Radio	XM 82 (Internet 825)	XM 83 (Internet 801)	XM 88 (Internet 88)
Sirius XM Radio	SXM 82 (Internet 825)	SXM 83 (Internet 801)SXM 88 (Internet 88)

Eagles Social Media	Falcons Social Media
Website	Website
Facebook	Facebook
Twitter	Twitter
Instagram	Instagram
Snapchat: Eagles	Snapchat: falcons

NFC East Standings

Team	Record	Pct	Home	Away	Div	Conf	PF	PA	Strk
Eagles(XYZ)	13-3	.813	7-1	6-2	5-1	10-2	457	295	1L
Cowboys	9-7	.563	3-5	6-2	5-1	7-5	354	332	1W
Redskins	7-9	.438	5-3	2-6	1-5	5-7	342	388	1L
Giants	3-13	.188	2-6	1-7	1-5	1-11	246	388	1W

[x]-Clinched Division [Y]-Clinched 1st Round Bye [Z]-Clinched Home Field Advantage

NFC Playoff Picture

Seed	Team	Division	Record
1	Eagles	East	13-2
2	Vikings	North	12-3
3	Rams	West	11-4
4	Saints	South	11-4
5	Panthers	South	11-4
6	Falcons	South	11-6

This Weekends NFC Games

Game	Time	Location
Eagles vs. Falcons	1/13/2018 4:35PM EST	Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
Vikings vs. Saints	1/14/2018 4:40PM EST	U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN

AFC Playoff Picture

Seed	Team	Division	Record
1	Patriots	East	13-3
2	Steelers	North	13-3
3	Jaguars	South	11-6
4	Chiefs	West	10-7
5	Titans	South	10-7
6	Bills	East	9-8

This Weekends AFC Games

Game	Time	Location
Patriots vs. Titans	1/13/2018 8:15PM EST	Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA
Steelers vs. Jaguars	1/14/2018 1:05PM EST	Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA

Series Information
The Philadelphia Eagles lead the Atlanta Falcons (18-14-1). 16-13-1 regular season, 2-1 postseason
Series History
Head to Head Box Scores
First Game Played
September 18th, 1966 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia Eagles 23 – Atlanta Falcons 10
Points Leader
The Philadelphia Eagles lead the Atlanta Falcons (712-592)
Coaches Record
Doug Pederson: 1-0 against the Falcons
Dan Quinn: 1-1 against Eagles
Coaches Head to Head
Doug Pederson vs Dan Quinn: Pederson leads 1-0
Quarterback Record
Nick Foles: Against Falcons: 0-0
Matt Ryan: Against Eagles: 3-4
Quarterbacks Head to Head
Nick Foles vs Matt Ryan: First meeting between the QBs
Records per Stadium
Record @ Lincoln Financial Field: Eagles lead Falcons 5-1
Record @ Mercedes Benz: N/A

Rankings and Last Meeting Information
AP Pro 32 Ranking
Eagles No. 5 - Falcons No. 9
Record
Eagles: 13-3
Falcons: 11-6
Last Meeting and Last at Site
Sunday, November 13th, 2016
Eagles 24 - Falcons 15
The Eagles defense held the high scoring Falcons defense in check and the Eagles rushed for 208 yards, including 108 and two TDs from Ryan Mathews.
Click here to view the Video Recap
Click here to view the Stats Recap
Last Meeting in Playoffs
Sunday, January 23rd, 2005
Eagles 27 – Falcons 11
The Eagles defense held the dangerous Michael Vick in check all day forcing a pick and 4 sacks, while McNabb threw for 2 TDs and Westbrook had over 100 total yards offense as the Eagles defeated the Falcons to advance to the Super Bowl.
Click here to view the Video Recap
Click here to view the Stats Recap

Last 10 Meetings

Date	Winner	Loser	Score
11/13/16	Eagles	Falcons	24-15
09/14/15	Falcons	Eagles	26-24
10/28/12	Falcons	Eagles	30-17
09/18/11	Falcons	Eagles	35-31
10/17/10	Eagles	Falcons	31-17
12/06/09	Eagles	Falcons	34-7
10/26/08	Eagles	Falcons	27-14
12/31/06	Eagles	Falcons	24-17
09/12/05	Falcons	Eagles	14-10
01/23/05	Eagles	Falcons	27-10

Injury Reports	Depth Charts
Eagles	Eagles
Falcons	Falcons

2017 Weekly Matchup
Division Round - Iron Rank Matchup
Divisional Round - "Expert" Picks

2017 Team Stats
Eagles Season Stats
Falcons Season Stats

2017 Stats (Starters/Leaders)

Passing

Name	CMP	ATT	PCT	YDS	TD	INT	RAT
Foles	57	101	56.4	537	5	2	79.5
Wentz (IR)	265	440	60.2%	3296	33	7	101.9
Ryan	342	529	64.7%	4095	20	12	91.4

Rushing

Name	ATT	YDS	YDS/G	AVG	TD
Blount	173	824	47.9	4.4	2
Ajayi	70	408	58.3	5.8	1
Freeman	196	865	61.8	4.4	7
Coleman	156	628	41.9	4.0	7

Receiving

Name	REC	YDS	YDS/G	AVG	TD
Ertz	74	824	58.9	11.1	8
Jones	88	1444	90.3	16.4	3

Sacks

Name	Sacks	Team Total
Graham	9.5	38
Clayborn	9.5	39

Tackles

Name	Total	Solo	Assist	Sacks
Bradham	88	61	27	1.0
Jones	138	91	47	1.0

Interceptions

Name	Ints	Team Total
Robinson	4	19
Jones	3	8

Punting

Name	ATT	YDS	LONG	AVG	NET	IN 20	TB	BP
D. Jones	67	3033	62	45.3	40.6	21	5	1
Bosher	53	2379	62	44.9	40.8	19	2	0

Kicking

Name	ATT	MADE	%	LONG	PAT
Elliot	31	26	83.9%	61	39/42
Bryant	39	34	87.2%	57	35/35

Kick Returns

Name	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Barner	10	194	19.4	27	0
Roberts	38	860	22.6	61	0

Punt Returns

Name	RET	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD	FC
Barner	27	240	8.9	76	0	15
Roberts	27	201	7.4	27	0	21

League Rankings 2017

Offense Rankings

Category	Eagles Stat	Eagles Rank	Falcons Stat	Falcons Rank
Total Offense	365.8	7th	364.8	8th
Rush Offense	132.2	3rd	115.4	13th
Pass Offense	233.6	13th	249.4	8th
Points Per Game	28.6	3rd	22.1	15th
3rd-Down Offense	42%	8th	45%	1st
4th-Down Offense	65%	3rd	31%	27th
Red Zone Offense (TD%)	65.5	1st	50	23rd

Defense Rankings

Category	Eagles Stat	Eagles Rank	Falcons Stat	Falcons Rank
Total Defense	306.5	4th	318.4	9th
Rush Defense	79.2	1st	104.1	9th
Pass Defense	227.3	17th	214.3	12th
Points Per Game	18.4	4th	19.7	8th
3rd-Down Defense	32%	3rd	38%	16th
4th-Down Defense	22%	1st	68%	29th
Red Zone Defense (TD%)	55.3	20th	44.2	5th

Team

Category	Eagles Stat	Eagles Rank	Falcons Stat	Falcons Rank
Turnover Diff.	+11	4th	-2	19th
Penalty Per Game	7.2	T-25th	6.2	11th
Penalty Yards Per Game	60.1	22nd	57.0	15th

Recap from Last Week’s Games.
Eagles - Eagles were on Bye Last Week
Falcons - Video – The Falcons traveled to Los Angeles to take on the Rams in the Wild Card round of the playoffs last week and took it to the number 3 seed. Matt Ryan passed for 218 yards and hit Julio Jones for an 8-yard touchdown with 5:48 to play, and the defending NFC champion Falcons advanced to the divional round with a 26-13 victory over the Rams on Saturday night. Julio Jones caught nine passes for 94 yards and a score and Devonta Freeman had a score on the ground as the Falcons chipped away at the Rams defense. On the defensive side of the ball the Falcons held All-Pro Todd Gurly in check for the first three quarters limiting him to just 43 yards. While on Special Teams the Falcons took advantage of two Rams fumbles in the win.

Connections
Falcons QBs Matt Ryan (William Penn Charter) and Matt Schaub (West Chester East) attended high school in the Philadelphia area.
Falcons' Special Teams Coord. Keith Armstrong played for Temple University in Philadelphia from 1983-86.
Falcons passing game coordinator Jerome Henderson played cornerback for the Eagles during the 1995 season.
Eagles DL coach Chris Wilson held the same title with the University of Georgia in 2013.
Three TEs in Sunday’s game played collegiately at Stanford: Eagles TE Zach Ertz (2010-12) and Falcons TEs Austin Hooper (2014-15) and Levine Toilolo (2010-12).

2018 Pro Bowlers

Eagles	Falcons
OT Lane Johnson	WR Julio Jones (Starter)
QB Carson Wentz (Starter)	C Alex Mack (Starter)
TE Zach Ertz (Starter)	ST Derrick Coleman (1st Alt)
G Brandon Brooks (Starter)	QB Matt Ryan (2nd Alt)
DT Fletcher Cox (Starter)	DT Grady Jarrett (2nd Alt)
FS Malcom Jenkins	CB Desmond Trufant (2nd Alt)
C Jason Kelce (1st Alt)	RB Devonta Freeman (2nd Alt)
DE Brandon Graham (1st Alt)
CB Jalen Mills (3rd Alt)
K Jake Elliot (2nd Alt)
ST Kame Grugier-Hill (2nd Alt)

General
Referee: Bill Vinovich
Philadelphia finished the regular season with a franchise record-tying 13 wins (also 2004), tying Minnesota, New England and Pittsburgh for the best record in the NFL.
Philadelphia led the NFL in red zone TD efficiency (65.5%), time of possession (32:41) and opponent rushing yards per game (79.2). The Eagles also tied with New England for the NFL lead in point differential (+162).
Philadelphia’s 457 points ranked 3rd in the NFL, behind L.A. Rams (478) and New England (458). The Eagles’ 457 points were also the 2nd-most in team history, trailing only their 2014 production (474).
Philadelphia ranked 3rd in the NFL in rushing yards per game (132.2), behind Jacksonville (141.4) and Dallas (132.2). The Eagles also ranked 3rd in third-down defense (32.2%) and fourth-down offense (65.4%).
Philadelphia produced the 4th-most takeaways in the NFL (31), trailing only Baltimore (34), Jacksonville (33) and Detroit (32). The Eagles ranked 4th in the NFL in turnover differential (+11), behind Baltimore (+17), Kansas City (+15) and L.A. Chargers (+12).

Draft Picks

Eagles	Falcons
DE Derek Barnett	DE Takkarist McKinley
CB Sidney Jones	LB Duke Riley
CB Rasul Douglas	G Sean Harlow
WR Mack Hollins	S Damontae Kazee
RB Donnel Pumphrey	RB Brian Hill
WR Shelton Gibson	TE Eric Saubert
LB Nathan Gerry
DT Elijah Qualls

Notable Off-season Additions

Eagles	Falcons
WR Torrey Smith	DE Jack Crawford
WR Alshon Jeffery	DT Dontari Poe
DE Chris Long	WR Andre Roberts
DT Timmy Jernigan
RB LaGarrett Blount
CB Patrick Robinson
G Chance Warmack
QB Nick Foles
S Corey Graham
CB Ronald Darby
K Jake Elliott
LB Dannell Ellerbe
OT Will Beatty

Notable Off-season Departures

Eagles	Falcons
CB Nolan Carroll	DE Dwight Freeney
DE Connor Barwin	FB Patrick DiMarco
DT Bennie Logan
QB Chase Daniel
CB Leodis McKelvin
WR Dorial Green-Beckham
DE Marcus Smith
RB Ryan Mathews

Milestones
QB Nick Foles (7290) needs 208 yards to move up to 9th all-time on the all-time Eagles Passing Yards list passing Norm Van Brocklin
QB Nick Foles (51) needs 4 TDs to move up to a tie for 9th all-time on the all-time Eagles Passing TDs list with Norm Van Brocklin and Adrian Burk
TE Brent Celek (4,998) needs 2 more yards to reach 5000 career receiving yards.
TE Brent Celek (398) needs 2 more receptions to reach 400 career receptions.
TE Zach Ertz (3664) needs 127 yards to move up to 13th on the Eagles all-time receiving list all-time passing RB Brian Westbrook
DE Brandon Graham (38.5 – 7th) needs 1 sacks to move up to a tie for 6th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DT Andy Harmon.
DE Fletcher Cox (34 - 10th) needs 1.5 sacks to move into a tie for 9th all-time on the Eagles sack list with DE William Fuller.
DE Vinny Curry (22.0 – 22nd) needs 1 sacks to move up to a tie for 21st on the Eagles all-time sack list moving passing DEDarren Howard.
S Malcolm Jenkins's (4) needs 1 more Interception for a TD to tie CB Eric Allen (5) for most Interceptions for a TD by an Eagles player. Jenkins is the only Eagles player to have a pick 6 in 3 straight seasons.
DE Adrian Clayborn (24.0 -11th) needs 1 sack to move up to 10th on the Falcons all-time sack list passing DT Mike Pitts.
DE Vic Beasley (17.0 -19th) needs 1.5 sacks to move up to a tie for 17th on the Falcons all-time sack list passing LB Keith Brooking and tying DE Jumpy Geathers.
RB Tevin Coleman (1540 - 19th) needs 73 yards to move up to 18th on the Falcons all-time rushing list passing RB Junior Coffey.

Pro Football Focus Matchup Charts courtesy of PFF Edge

WDB Matchups (CAPS = Shadow Coverage)

Eagles WRs vs. Falcons DBs IMAGE

Tm	Rec/DB	Pos	H	Wt	Sp	Rt	L%	S%	R%	%TaRt	Cat%	YPRC	Gr	Adv
PHI	Alshon Jeffery	LWR	75	218	4.48	577	45	16	39	20	50	1.44	80	-2
ATL	Robert Alford	RCB	70	186	4.39	601	1	12	87	18	56	1.23	79.8
PHI	Torrey Smith	RWR	72	205	4.41	465	38	17	45	14	61	0.99	41.4	-50
ATL	Desmond Trufant	LCB	72	190	4.38	522	88	11	1	13	57	1.07	86
PHI	Nelson Agholor	Slot	72	198	4.42	502	7	86	7	19	67	1.58	79.1	+18
ATL	Brian Poole	Slot	69	213		409	2	95	3	21	84	1.75	72.7

Falcons WRs vs. Eagles DBs IMAGE

Tm	Rec/DB	Pos	H	Wt	Sp	Rt	L%	S%	R%	%TaRt	Cat%	YPRC	Gr	Adv
ATL	Julio Jones	LWR	75	220	4.34	459	42	22	36	32	62	3.23	90	+46
PHI	Ronald Darby	RCB	71	193	4.38	232	6	3	91	22	55	1.5	81.8
ATL	Mohamed Sanu	Slot	74	210	4.62	439	15	67	18	20	71	1.49	79	+6
PHI	Patrick Robinson	Slot	71	191	4.46	464	6	80	14	19	56	1.34	90.4
ATL	Taylor Gabriel	RWR	68	165		365	41	15	43	14	71	1.26	70.1	-17
PHI	Jalen Mills	LCB	72	191	4.61	609	87	3	10	18	60	1.14	71

TE Matchups IMAGE

Tm	TE/Def	H	Wt	Rt	Bl%	Inl%	S%	W%	%TaRt	Cat%	YPRC	Gr	Adv
ATL	Austin Hooper	75	254	481	13	51	37	12	15	79	1.25	49.9	-11
PHI	Malcolm Jenkins (S)	72	204	262					8	64	0.48	83.8
PHI	Zach Ertz	77	250	488	7	42	41	17	23	73	1.82	85.7	+12
ATL	Keanu Neal (S)	72	211	211					15	68	0.73	83

OL/DL Matchups IMAGE
Note: Pressure Rate and Yards Before Contact are projected numbers based on the starters' grades and are adjusted for injuries. All other stats are based on this season's data

Tm	Press%	SkConv	YBCon	Runs ins. 5 yd ln/gm	TD ins. 5 yd ln%	PB Adv.	RB Adv.
ATL (OL)	4.7	13	1.88	1.3	43	-16	+15
PHI (DL)	6.8	19	1.54	0.6	33
PHI (OL)	4.4	16	1.84	1	31	+3	-1
ATL (DL)	6	16	1.32	0.8	46

Stats to Know
Ryan Under Pressure
In 2017, when under pressure, Falcons QB Matt Ryan has been both sacked 4th-lowest (% of pressured dropbacks) and has suffered the 2nd-most drop (11). In the pocket, Ryan has spent about an equal percentage of dropbacks under 2.5 seconds as he has over 2.5. His average time to sack, though, is 6th-fastest, which I suppose shouldn't be a surprise, given the piss-poor play Atlanta's been getting from its Guards, with Levitre out. G Ben Garland has allowed the highest percentage of pressures per pass blocking snap of all Guards, at 9.34%. In the Wildcard matchup against the Rams--Aaron Donald is an outright beast--that number was a whopping 20% (7 pressures on 35 PB snaps). The Guard with the next-highest pressure letup percentage was Atlanta's other Guard, Wes Schweitzer, at 11.34%. You can bet your bottom dollar that the Eagles' DIs are chomping at the bit.--Courtesy of PFF Elite

Matchups to Watch
Nick Foles vs Falcons Defense
The “easiest” way to win in the NFL is with a franchise QB. In Nick Foles career, he’s had 14 starts with a passer rating better than 100 and 16 starts with a passer rating lower than 80. He’s had only nine starts with a passer rating between 80 and 100. This kind of inconsistency has plagued Foles in his career but it does show that he is a capable QB. This will be his second postseason start against a very good secondary in Atlanta. According to Pro Football Focus, the Falcons have two cornerbacks ranked in the top 25 in the NFL. Their best corner, Desmond Trufant, is ranked 17 by PFF. He was on injured reserve last year when the Eagles beat the Falcons in Philadelphia. Opposite Trufant is Robert Alford, who largely stays at RCB. The Falcons also have a quality slot corner in Brian Poole. This is a very athletic group that plays disciplined football. The Falcons also have Keanu Neal who is emerging as a top end safety in the NFL. The Falcons defensive scheme is basically the Seahawks defensive scheme. In pass defense, they look to take away the big plays and force opposing offenses to methodically move down the field. They are ranked 22nd overall per DVOA and 19th vs the pass. The Falcons defense has improved over the last season and has helped carry the offense. Nick Foles will need to be able to make plays in the passing game since the Falcons will be looking to take away the run.
Eagles Defensive Line vs. Falcons Offensive Line
Without Carson Wentz, the strength of the Eagles team is along the defensive line, one of the best if not the best in the NFL. The Eagles will need every one of their players to help wreck the Falcons offensive game plan, especially Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham. At tackle, the Falcons start Ryan Schraeder and Jake Matthews who both ranked as PFFs top 25 tackles – 21st and 15th respectively. Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry, Derek Barnett, and Chris Long need to step up and put pressure on Matt Ryan while remaining good run defenders. The Falcons offense features a number of really good weapons but their offensive line isn’t among the tops in the game. The Falcons also feature 2 poor guards in Wes Schweitzer and Ben Garland. Andy Levitre is a pretty solid guard in his own right but went on IR in week 17. Everyone has watched Aaron Donald sodomize the Falcons interior line last week but the Falcons were able to overcome it. While Fletcher Cox isn’t as good as Aaron Donald, he’s pretty close. Additionally, the Eagles defensive line is a much deeper and more disruptive group than the Rams unit. Timmy Jernigan has been sluggish of late but he has also been banged up. He is now well rested. The Eagles will also look to shift Brandon Graham inside from time to time to take advantage of his quickness against guards. Alex Mack is a great center for the Falcons and one of the best at the position in the game but cannot carry the interior line on his own. The Eagles have a defensive line that is deeper and more talented than almost every team in the NFL and it needs to perform that way for the Eagles to win this weekend. Pressure up front can ruin games and the Eagles defensive line is more than capable to Rise Up for this occasion.
Eagles Offensive Line vs Falcons Defensive Front
Even without the Hall of Famer Jason Peters the Eagles still have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce we selected as first team All Pro’s this year and will go up against a pretty good Atlanta defensive line. Lane Johnson is the best right tackle in the NFL and will take a lot of snaps opposite Vic Beasley who is having a down season after sacking much of the league last year. The Falcons defensive line is very athletic but somewhat undersized and can be bullied off the line of scrimmage but punishing offensive lines like the Eagles. We even saw that last year when the Eagles ran all over the Falcons last year when they beat them at the Linc. The Falcons best defensive lineman is Grady Jarrett and is very disruptive along the defensive interior. Nick Foles does need to get better but the offensive line can help make things a lot easier for him if they are able to open up running lanes like they did against the Falcons last year while they keep him on his feet. Jason Kelce finished as PFFs top ranked center on the season while guards Brandon Brooks and Stefen Wisniewski finished as the 4th and 29th best guards per PFF on the season. Wis was banged up at the end of the season but did play meaningful snaps in week 17 and is ready for the playoffs. Big V has been up and down at left tackle for the Eagles since taking over for Jason Peters but has proven to at least be a quality option a number of teams don’t have. This unit is strong in pass and run protection and will need to continue to be strong in both areas. The Falcons make it a priority to stop opposing rushing attacks and routinely stack the box to do so. Their excellent secondary really allows the Falcons to attack the lines of opposing offenses especially with the excellent LB Deion Jones. On the season Deion Jones finished as PFFs 5th rated LB and is one of the best LBs in the NFL in coverage. According to PFF, Jones isn’t quite as good in run support but is more than athletic enough to make plays for the Falcons defense. The Eagles offensive line has a good opportunity on their hands vs a decent defensive front for the Falcons in a positional match up that does favor them.
Falcons Play-makers vs Eagles Defense
The Falcons possess one of the best rushing tandems in the NFL in Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. While the two backs aren’t the same style of runner they are both very good and very explosive game-changing backs. Additionally, both of these backs are excellent as receivers out of the backfield and will really stress the Eagles linebacking group as the game unfolds. It’s no secret the Falcons offense looks to feed these two backs and when they are running wild they open up the entire offense. Oh, and the Falcons have Julio Jones. He’s pretty good. Julio Jones remains one of the best players in the NFL even with the low TD numbers. In their game last year, Jones had double digit catches and over 100 yards receiving. It felt like a minor miracle despite his outstanding performance. The Eagles secondary is vastly improved from last year but that doesn’t mean much with Julio since he has proven to be a match up nightmare for everyone he faces. While Mohammed Sanu and Austin Hooper aren’t big names they are solid and efficient pass catchers for the Falcons. The Falcons offense isn’t nearly as explosive as it was last season but still has the talent in all areas to take the top off the game if the Eagles defense isn’t able to account for them. The defensive line needs to win its battles up front to shut the running backs down forcing the Falcons into more difficult 3rd down situations. They need to be sure tacklers and play disciplined through the air. It would be shocking to find out Julio Jones wasn’t excited for the opportunity to execute one of his double moves. Matt Ryan hasn’t been as electric as last season but has still been quite good for the Falcons this year. The Eagles will need to force Matt Ryan in to difficult situations and prevent him from picking them apart. The Falcons are a tough and resilient bunch; they will be in this game throughout. Big plays will be the difference. The Eagles defense needs to ensure they aren’t the ones allowing them.

Special thanks to MikeTysonChicken and abenyishay for their help in creating this Game Preview

Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0)

The Eagles started their Super Bowl title defense with a win against the Atlanta Falcons last week and will look to keep the ball rolling against another NFC South foe in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The task will not be easy as Eagles will still be without starting QB Carson Wentz, WR Alshon Jeffery and DT Timmy Jernigan. Making it even harder, the Bucs are coming off a big win against the division rival Saints which saw their offense put up 48 points including 4 TDs from backup QB Ryan Fitzpatrick along with a rushing TD. The Eagles secondary is going to be put to the task facing talented WRs Mike Evans and former Eagles Desean Jackson each of whom put up over 100 yards and TDs against the Saints. A big key to the game will be winning in the trenches where the Eagles dominated last week against the Falcons, if they can do the same this week it will go a long way in winning the game. This will be especially true for the Eagles DL and getting pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick to take some stress off the secondary and take away the deep ball. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles’ offensive line will have a tough task seeing some familiar faces across the line at the Buccaneers’ revamped DL which includes two former Eagles in Vinny Curry and Beau Allen along with former NY Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul. It should be a good football game down in Tampa Bay in another battle of the backups for Nick Foles.

General Information
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Date
Sunday, Sept 16th, 2018

Game Time	Game Location
1:00 PM - Eastern	Raymond James Stadium
12:00 PM - Central	4201 N. Dale Mabry Highway
11:00 AM - Mountain	Tampa, FL 33607
10:00 AM - Pacific	Wikipedia - Map

Weather Forecast
Stadium Type: Open Air
Surface: Grass
Temperature: 89°F
Feels Like: 98°F

Forecast: Humid and Partly Cloudy. Humid and partly cloudy throughout the day. Chance of Precipitation: 2%| Cloud Coverage: 27%| Wind: SW 8 MPH|

Betting Odds
Oddsshark Information
Favorite/Opening Line: Philadelphia by -3
OveUnder: 44
Record VS. Spread: Philadelphia 1-0, Tampa Bay 1-0

Where to Watch on TV
FOX will broadcast Sunday’s game to a regional audience. Kenny Albert will handle the play-by-play duties and Ronde Barber will provide analysis. Tiki Barber will report from the sidelines.
TV Map - Week 2 TV Coverage Map

Internet Streams
NFL Streams - Look here 30 minutes before the game for Streams

Radio Streams
Disclaimer: Subscription Based Official NFL Radio Streams available via TuneIn
List of Eagles Radio network member stations with internet broadcast availability
Radio.com 94.1 Desktop Streaming

Listen to Merrill Reese and Mike Quick
Calling the game on 94WIP and the Eagles Radio Network will be Merrill Reese, the NFL’s longest-tenured play-by-play announcer (41st season). Joining Reese in the radio booth will be former Eagles All-Pro wide receiver Mike Quick, while Howard Eskin will report from the sidelines.

Location	Station	Frequency
Philadelphia, PA	WIP-FM	94.1 FM and 610 AM
Allentown, PA	WCTO-FM	96.1 FM
Atlantic City/South Jersey	WENJ-FM	97.3 FM
Levittown, PA	WBCB-AM	1490 AM
Northumberland, PA	WEGH-FM	107.3 FM
Pottsville, PA	WPPA-AM	1360 AM
Reading, PA	WEEU-AM	830 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WAFL-FM	97.7 FM
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA	WEJL-FM	96.1 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WAFL-FM	97.7 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WEJL-AM	630 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WBAX-AM	1240 AM
Williamsport, PA	WBZD-FM	93.3 FM
Wilmington, DE	WDEL-FM/AM	101.7 FM
York/LancasteHarrisburg, PA	WSOX-FM	96.1 FM

Philadelphia Spanish Radio
Rickie Ricardo, Macu Berral and Gus Salazar will handle the broadcast in Spanish on Mega 105.7 FM in Philadelphia and the Eagles Spanish Radio Network.

Location	Station	Frequency
Philadelphia, PA	LA MEGA	105.7 FM
Allentown, PA	WSAN	1470 AM
Atlantic City, NJ	WIBG	1020 AM; 101.3 FM

Buccaneers Radio
Buccaneers Radio Network Gene Deckerhoff enters his 29th seasons as the play-by-play announcer with former Bucs tight end Dave Moore working as the analyst and T.J. Rives on the sidelines.

National Radio
Compass will carry the game nationally with Chris Carrino (play-by-play) and Brian Baldinger (analyst) on the call.

Satellite Radio

Station	Eagles Channel	Buccaneers Channel
Sirius Radio	SIRI 134 (Streaming 825)	SIRI 113 (Streaming 829)
XM Radio	(Streaming 825)	XM 231 (Streaming 829)
Sirius XM Radio	SXM 383 (Streaming 825)	SXM 231 (Streaming 829)

Eagles Social Media	Buccaneers Social Media
Website	Website
Facebook	Facebook
Twitter	Twitter
Instagram	Instagram
Snapchat: Eagles	Snapchat: BucsNFL

NFC East Standings

Team	Record	PCT	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	DIFF	STRK
Eagles	1-0	1.00	1-0	0-1	0-0	1-0	18	12	6	W1
Redskins	1-0	1.00	0-0	1-0	0-0	1-0	24	6	18	W1
Cowboys	0-1	0.00	0-0	0-1	0-0	0-1	8	16	-8	L1
Giants	0-1	0.00	0-1	0-0	0-0	0-0	15	20	-5	L1

Series Information
Philadelphia Eagles lead Tampa Bay Buccaneers, (10-8)
Series History
Head to Head Box Scores
First Game Played
September 18th, 1977 at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia Eagles 13- Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3
Points Leader
The Philadelphia Eagles lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (339-307)
Coaches Record
Doug Pederson: This will be Pederson's first game vs. the Buccaneers
Dirk Koetter: This will be Koetter's first game vs. the Eagles
Coaches Head to Head
This will be the first game Pederson and Koetter face off
Quarterback Record
Nick Foles: Against Buccaneers 2-0
Ryan Fitzpatrick: Against Eagles: 1-3-1
Quarterbacks Head to Head
Nick Foles vs Ryan Fitzpatrick: Nick Foles 1-0 against Ryan Fitzpatrick (Foles left game early with an injury)
Records per Stadium
Record @ Lincoln Financial Field: Tampa Bay leads series: 2-1
Record @ Raymond James Stadium: Philadelphia leads series: 3-1

Rankings and Last Meeting Information
AP Pro 32 Ranking
Eagles No. 2 - Buccaneers No. 15
Record
Eagles: 1-0
Buccaneers: 1-0

Last Meeting
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015
Eagles 17 - Buccaneers 45
In a game that was part of a stretch that helped end Chip Kelly’s coaching career in Philadelphia, Jameis Winston had a career day throwing for 5 TDs and 246 on 19-29 throwing and Doug Martin ran all the Eagles defense for 235 yards. The Buccaneers dominated an unmotivated Eagles squad on both sides of the football forcing 4 Eagles turnovers which included 3 Mark Sanchez interceptions and a Demarco Murray fumble.
Click here to view the Video Recap
Click here to view the Stats Recap

Last Meeting at Site
Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013
Eagles 31 - Buccaneers 20
Last time the Eagles visited Ray James stadium, Nick Foles was in the midst of his magical 27-2 season, while the Buccaneers were winless suffering through their final season of Greg Schiano. Big Dick Nick threw for 296 yards and 3 TDs, whiling running for one more as the Eagles won a back and forth game during which they pulled away in the second half scoring 17 points in the second half while holding the Bucs to 3.
Click here to view the Video Recap
Click here to view the Stats Recap

Last 10 Meetings

Date	Winner	Loser	Score
01/06/2002	Eagles	Buccaneers	17-13
01/12/2002	Eagles	Buccaneers	31-9
10/20/2002	Eagles	Buccaneers	20-10
01/19/2003	Buccaneers	Eagles	27-10
09/08/2003	Buccaneers	Eagles	17-0
10/22/2006	Buccaneers	Eagles	23-21
10/11/2009	Eagles	Buccaneers	33-14
12/09/2012	Eagles	Buccaneers	23-21
10/13/2013	Eagles	Buccaneers	31-20
11/22/2015	Buccaneers	Eagles	45-17

Injury Reports	Depth Charts
Eagles	Eagles
Buccaneers	Buccaneers

2018 Weekly Matchup
Week 2 - Iron Rank Matchup
Week 2 - "Expert" Picks

2018 Team Stats
Eagles Season Stats
Buccaneers Season Stats

2018 Stats (Starters/Leaders)

Passing

Name	CMP	ATT	PCT	YDS	TD	INT	RAT
Foles	19	34	55.9 %	117	0	1	50.7
Fitzpatrick	21	28	75%	417	4	0	156.2

Rushing

Name	ATT	YDS	YDS/G	AVG	TD
Ajayi	15	62	62	4.1	2
Barber	19	69	69	3.6	0

Receiving

Name	REC	YDS	YDS/G	AVG	TD
Ertz	5	48	48	9.6	0
Evans	7	147	147	21.0	1

Sacks

Name	Sacks	Team Total
Hicks/Long	1.5	4.0
Curry	1.0	1.0

Tackles

Name	Total	Solo	Assist	Sacks
Hicks	7	5	2	1.5
David	9	6	3	0

Interceptions

Name	Ints	Team Total
Douglas	1	1
N/A	0	0

Punting

Name	ATT	YDS	LONG	AVG	NET	IN 20	TB	BP
Johnston	6	313	65	52.2	47.0	1	1	0
Anger	1	42	42	42.0	42.0	0	0	0

Kicking

Name	ATT	MADE	%	LONG	PAT
Elliot	1	1	100%	26	1/1
Catanzaro	3	2	66.7%	36	6/6

Kick Returns

Name	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Gibson	2	43	21.5	30	0
Wilson	1	29	29	29	0

Punt Returns

Name	RET	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD	FC
Sproles	3	29	9.7	12	0	1
Humphries	2	17	8.5	16	0	0

League Rankings 2018

Offense Rankings

Category	Eagles Stat	Eagles Rank	Buccaneers Stat	Buccaneers Rank
Total Offense	232.0	29th	529.0	2nd
Rush Offense	113	18th	112	19th
Pass Offense	119	31st	417	3rd
Points Per Game	18.0	23rd	48.0	T-1st
3rd-Down Offense	50%	T-3rd	62%	2nd
4th-Down Offense	N/A	T-6th	N/A	T-6th
Red Zone Offense (TD%)	66.7%	10th	50.0%	T-13th

Defense Rankings

Category	Eagles Stat	Eagles Rank	Buccaneers Stat	Buccaneers Rank
Total Defense	299.0	7th	475.0	30th
Rush Defense	74.0	6th	43.0	2nd
Pass Defense	225.0	T-14th	432.0	32nd
Points Per Game	12.0	4th	40.0	29th
3rd-Down Defense	27%	8th	44%	25th
4th-Down Defense	0%	T-1st	100%	T-29th
Red Zone Defense (TD%)	20.0%	4th	80.0%	26th

Team

Category	Eagles Stat	Eagles Rank	Buccaneers Stat	Buccaneers Rank
Turnover Diff.	-1	T-20th	+2	T-5th
Penalty Per Game	11.0	T- 27th	7.0	T-9th
Penalty Yards Per Game	101	28th	70	T-17th

Recap from Last Week’s Games.
Eagles - Video – A rematch from last year’s divisional round with backup Nick Foles again for the Eagles. The Falcons moved the ball against the Eagles defense most of the night, but was suffocated each time they enter the redzone, scoring just one touchdown in five trips inside the Philadelphia 20-yard line. They came away with no points three times and settled for a short field goal on another. Nick Foles again played the role of receiver, catching a 15 yard pass from Nelson Agholor and Jay Ajayi added rushed for 2 TDs. Like the divisional round, the game came down to a goal line stand where again the Eagles defense shutdown Julio Jones and Matt Ryan in the endzone to preserve the win for the Eagles.
Buccaneers - Video – The Buccaneers took on the division rival Saints week 1. The game didn’t have any lack of offense as both teams put up points at will. The Buccaneers led 31-17 before the Saints added a last minute TD before heading into the locker room. The Buccaneers added two more TDs on long passes to Mike Evans and Desean Jackson in the second half and were able to hold on for the win in a game that saw Ryan Fitzpatrick throw for 4 TDs and 417 yards and rush for one more.

Connections
Buccaneers DE Vinny Curry was selected by the Eagles in the 2nd round of the 2012 draft and played 6 seasons for the Eagles.
Buccaneers DT Beau Allen was selected by the Eagles in the 7th round of the 2014 draft and played 4 seasons for the Eagles.
Buccaneers WR DeSean Jackson was selected by the Eagles in the 2nd round of the 2008 draft and played 6 seasons for the Eagles.
Eagles DE Michael Bennett was claimed off waivers as a rookie in 2009 by the Buccaneers and played 4 seasons for them.
Buccaneers GM Jason Licht worked for the Eagles from 2003-2007 as Assistant director of player personnel (2003-2005) and Vice President of player personnel (2006-2007).
Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin, CB Brent Grimes and DE Noah Spence were all born in Philadelphia, PA.

2018 Pro Bowlers

Eagles	Buccaneers
OT Lane Johnson	DT Gerald McCoy
QB Carson Wentz (Starter)	LB Lavonte David (2nd Alt)
TE Zach Ertz (Starter)	LB Kwon Alexander (3rd Alt)
G Brandon Brooks (Starter)	TE Cameron Brate (3rd Alt)
DT Fletcher Cox (Starter)
FS Malcom Jenkins
C Jason Kelce (1st Alt)
DE Brandon Graham (1st Alt)
CB Jalen Mills (3rd Alt)
K Jake Elliot (2nd Alt)
ST Kame Grugier-Hill (2nd Alt)

General
Referee: Alex Kemp
In Week 1 vs. Atlanta, Darren Sproles(19,216) surpassed Steve Smith Sr.(19,180) and Marshall Faulk (19,190) for the 6th-most all-purpose yards in NFL history. Sproles trails only Jerry Rice (23,546), Brian Mitchell (23,330), Walter Payton(21,803), Emmitt Smith (21,564) and Tim Brown(19,682) on the NFL’s all-time list.
Including playoffs, Philadelphia is 16-2 (.889) in its last 18 games, as well as 19-3 (.864) in its last 22 overall.
The Eagles’ 16-2 record since Week 3 of 2017 marks their best 18-game stretch since 11/2/03-10/31/04 (also 16-2). The last time Philadelphia won 19+ games over a 22-game stretch was 11/23/03-12/19/04 (also 19-3).
Philadelphia finished the 2017 season with a 6-2 record in away games, which was their best regular-season total on the road since 2013 (also 6-2).
In 2017, the Eagles scored 228 points in road games, which marked the 3rd-most points scored on the road in team history, trailing only 2010 (262) and 2013 (250).
Philadelphia has won each of its 2 road openers under the direction of head coach Doug Pederson (W, 30-17 at Washington on 9/10/17; W, 29-14 at Chicago on 9/19/16).
Since the NFL’s division realignment in 2002, Philadelphia has posted a 20-12 record vs. NFC South teams, winning 7 of the last 10 matchups, including each of the last 3.
The Eagles’ .625 winning percentage vs. NFC South teams is their highest against any NFC division since 2002. It is their 2nd-best winning percentage vs. any NFL division in that span, behind a .688 (1-5) mark against the AFC East.
In Week 1 vs. Atlanta, Philadelphia held the Falcons to just a 26.7% (4-of-15) third-down conversion rate, while also limiting them to 1 TD in 5 red zone drives (20.0%).
Jay Ajayi registered his 2nd career game with multiple rushing TDs in Week 1 vs. Atlanta. Ajayi became the first Eagle to record multiple rushing TDs in a season opener since Wilbert Montgomery on 9/12/82 vs. Washington.

Draft Picks

Eagles	Buccaneers
TE Dallas Goedert	DT Vita Vea
CB Avonte Maddox	RB Ronald Jones II
DE Josh Sweat	CB MJ Stewart
T Matt Pryor	CB Carlton Davis
T Jordan Mailata	OT Alex Cappa
	S Jordan Whitehead
	WR Justin Watson
	LB Jack Cichy

Notable Off-season Additions

Eagles	Buccaneers
WR Mike Wallace	DE Jason Pierre-Paul
WR Markus Wheaton	DE Vinny Curry
DT Haloti Ngata	DT Beau Allen
P Cameron Johnston	C Ryan Jensen
DT Bruce Hector	K Chandler Catanzaro
LB DJ Alexander	DT Mitch Unrein

Notable Off-season Departures

Eagles	Buccaneers
DE Vinny Curry	DT Clinton McDonald
WR Torrey Smith	RB Doug Martin
RB Kenjon Barner	OG Kevin Pamphile
RB LaGarrett Blount	DE Robert Ayers
LB RB Mychal Kendricks	DT Chris Baker
CB Patrick Robinson	CB Robert McClain
TE Trey Burton	Charles Simms
DT Beau Allen
P Donnie Jones
WR Marcus Johnson
TE Brent Celek

Milestones
QB Nick Foles (7290) needs 91 yards to move up to 9th all-time on the all-time Eagles Passing Yards list passing Norm Van Brocklin
QB Nick Foles (51) needs 4 TDs to move up to a tie for 9th all-time on the all-time Eagles Passing TDs list with Norm Van Brocklin and Adrian Burk
TE Zach Ertz (3664) needs 79 yards to move up to 13th on the Eagles all-time receiving list all-time passing RB Brian Westbrook
RB Darren Sproles needs 458 yards to move up to 5th on the NFL’s all-time all-purpose yards list passing WR Tim Brown.
DE Brandon Graham (38.5 – 7th) needs 1 sacks to move up to a tie for 6th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DT Andy Harmon.
DE Fletcher Cox (34 - 10th) needs .5 sacks to move into a tie for 9th all-time on the Eagles sack list with DE William Fuller.
S Malcolm Jenkins's (4) needs 1 more Interception for a TD to tie CB Eric Allen (5) for most Interceptions for a TD by an Eagles player.
WR Mike Evans needs 203 yards to move up to number 2 on the Buccaneers all-time receiving list passing WR Kevin House.
WR Mike Evans needs 1 TD to move into a tie for number 1 on the Buccaneers all-time receiving list with TE ** Jimmie Giles**.
LB Lavonte David (18) needs .5 sacks to move into a tie with DE Regan Upshaw (18.5) for 17th on the Buccaneers all-time sack list and 1 sack to move him into a tie for 16th on the list, tying DE Ron Holmes.
LB Lavonte David (11) needs 2 forced fumbles to move up to 3rd on all-time on the Buccaneers forced fumble list tying Simeon Rice.

Matchups to Watch
Nick Foles vs. Buccaneers Pass Defense
Nick Foles struggled to get going week 1 vs. the Falcons throwing for just 117 yards and an INT in the win. Nick will have to be better against a Buccaneers team that hung 48 on the Saints if the Eagles hope to keep pace with Fitzmagic and his weapons. Thankfully, the Buccaneers defense also gave up 40 points with Drew Brees throwing for 439 yards 3 TDs and no interceptions. Nick Foles is not Drew Brees, but he has had success in the past at Raymond James Stadium where he threw for 296 and 3 TDs in his last visit. Pederson should try to build off that confidence of playing somewhere he had success in the past and get him going with some high percentage throws early to try to pull more of NFCC Nick Foles and less of last week’s Nick Foles. The Buccaneers will be without CB Vernon Hargraves was injured in last week’s matchup landing him on the IR with a shoulder injury. Look for Foles to heavily utilize his two TEs Ertz and Goedert as outlets and expect him to take some shots with Agholor in the slot and Wallace on the outside.
Eagles DL vs the Buccaneers OL
This matchup could prove big as Fitzpatrick was given tons of time last week to wait for multiple deeps routes to develop ending up in multiple long gains and TDs against the Saints. The Eagles DL is a significant upgrade compared to the Saints DL and their depth allows them to stay fresh throughout the game. The pass rush will be big in helping to prevent those big plays from developing by collapsing the pocket and getting pressure on Fitzpatrick. The Buccaneers WRs have a definite advantage over the Eagles secondary so it will be crucial for the DL to make up the difference and play the equalizer. Going against an arguably tougher Falcons OL, the Eagles were able to get to Matt Ryan four times and made him uncomfortable all night long, something they would love to replicate this Sunday against Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick has a noticeable drop off when comparing his number under pressure and with a clean pocket with a near 20 point drop in his QB rating. If the Eagles can make him uncomfortable in the pocket it might go from Fitzmagic to Fitztragic.
Eagles OL vs. Buccaneers Front Seven
Doug Pederson and the Eagles offense would love to get the running game going early in order to set up the RPO and play action to take some pressure off of backup Nick Foles. The Eagles didn’t commit to the run until the second half against the Falcons which led to two Jay Ajayi scores and kept the dangerous Falcons Offense on the sideline. If they get replicate that run game early in this game it could end up being a long day for the Buccaneers. It won’t be an easy task though, the Bucs revamped their DL in the offseason adding two former Eagles (Vinny Curry and Beau Allen) and former Giant Jason Pierre-Paul to go along with first round pick Vita Vea who is most likely to miss the game with a calf injury. It will remain to be seen who has the advantage with the familiarity on each side of the line, but it should make the battle in the trenches more interesting. If the Eagles can run the football and keep Nick Foles clean and upright the Eagles should still have enough weapon even missing Jeffery, Wentz and Hollins to put up points on the Buccaneers.

Special thanks to MikeTysonChicken and abenyishay for their help in creating this Game Preview.