Staff
The Philadelphia Eagles kick off their defense of the Super Bowl championship in a little over two weeks. They’ll open up the season against the team they vanquished from the divisional playoffs last January, the Atlanta Falcons, on September 6th.
Needless to say, Philly’s been waiting for this game since February 9th, the day after the championship parade that still has people talking. Heading into a football season as the defending champions is never easy, and since the Eagles also finished first in the NFC East, they’ll have a tough schedule ahead. Just how tough? Glad you asked.
According to SportsBettingDime.com, the New England Patriots are the favorites to win Super Bowl 53, sitting at 600-1.
The Eagles are second, and currently the top favorites in the NFC to win the Super Bowl at 870-1. Rounding out the top five are the Los Angeles Rams (1000-1), Pittsburgh Steelers (1000-1) and Minnesota Vikings (1100-1).
The Eagles will host the Vikings on October 7th. Although it’ll be early in the season, it’ll be a tough test for both teams that’ll be already vying for playoff positioning by that point. On December 16th, the Eagles will travel to Los Angeles for the second year in a row to take on the Rams for a Sunday night tilt.
By that point, the odds for the Super Bowl will surely change.
But even more interesting is that the trip comes almost exactly one year after Carson Wentz tore his ACL against the Rams in the same stadium they’ll be visiting. With Wentz looking to have another MVP campaign this season, that game will definitely have bigger playoff implications given the week.
The Eagles lost some role players, but they feel good enough that they’ve replaced them adequately. They may be poised to make another run at the Super Bowl. It’s especially hard for teams to repeat – most notably NFC teams – but if any team can shed that reputation of a Super Bowl hangover, this Eagles team seems to have the blueprint. That kickoff on September 6th can’t come soon enough.