Les Bowen | The Pick
I LIKE this Eagles team, but I'm not sure I like it right now.
When it's Thursday before the opener and the defensive coordinator is calling his unit "a work in progress," that doesn't conjure images of The Steel Curtain for me. Yeah, I went through all the stats from all the Eagles-Packers games since Andy Reid left cheeseland, and I understand how Brett Favre has never played a real good game against his former quarterbacks coach. And no, I really don't know much about this year's Packers, other than that everybody says the defense is much better.
I have to base this on what I've seen, and I haven't seen nearly enough of the Eagles' starters, on either side of the ball, during the preseason. Donovan McNabb has been functional, in very limited work; he threw no preseason touchdown passes. Bottom line, I'm going to assume this will be one of those not-quite-there openers Andy Reid has served up before (3-5 first-game record), and that the Packers are due for some breaks against the Birds. This will set the stage for redemption next week at home against the Redskins, in a Monday night game.
Prediction
Packers 17, Eagles 16. *
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