On Sunday, September 12th, the Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season. Here, I will be doing a preview of the game. The Eagles struggled last season, finishing the season with a record of 4-11-1. In the offseason, they fired coach Doug Pederson and replaced him with Nick Sirriani. They also traded away quarterback Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts and made Jalen Hurts the starter. They signed Joe Flacco and Gardner Minshew to back up Hurts. In the draft, they chose DeVonta Smith with the 6th overall pick. They really did a lot of fixing this offseason.
Atlanta had a similar story. The team finished 4-12 last year, last in the NFC South. They fired their coach, Dan Quinn, after just five games. Raheem Morris took over for the rest of the season, then he was replaced by Arthur Smith. They also traded Julio Jones to the Tennessee Titans. In the draft, they chose Kyle Pitts with the 4th pick.
This should be an interesting game, but my prediction is that the Falcons will win 31-19. As an Eagles fan, it hurts to say this, but it’s true. I think the Falcons are the better team. Atlanta is a young, growing core, and I think they could be a sleeper team this year.
The Eagles had a solid receiving core last season, but they didn’t have good quarterbacks throwing to them. Wentz had a poor 2020 season, having just a 57.4 completion percentage, 16 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. Although Hurts played decently, he didn’t have a great offensive line to back him up. Meanwhile, the Falcons aren’t exactly balanced. They have a good offense, but a less than good defense.
