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Eagles 2010 schedule is ninth-toughest in NFL

Eagles president Joe Banner has said the NFC East will be the toughest division in football next season. Coach Andy Reid often refers to division games as knockdown, drag-out fights.

The Eagles will have one of the tougher schedules in the NFL next season. ( Ron Cortes / Staff Photographer )
The Eagles will have one of the tougher schedules in the NFL next season. ( Ron Cortes / Staff Photographer )Read more

Eagles president Joe Banner has said the NFC East will be the toughest division in football next season. Coach Andy Reid often refers to division games as knockdown, drag-out fights.

The NFL strength-of-schedule ratings for 2010 seem to bear out just how difficult the road might be for the Eagles and their division rivals.

The four NFC East teams have the four most difficult schedules in the NFC and are in the top nine overall, based on the 2009 regular-season records of next season's opponents.

Dallas has the most difficult schedule in the NFC and third overall, with an opponents' winning percentage of .543. The Giants are seventh overall (.527), Washington is eighth overall (.523) and the Eagles are ninth (.520).

The Eagles' home schedule is particularly brutal. Only Washington (4-12) had a losing record last season, and four of the eight opponents won at least 11 games. Overall, the Eagles play only four games against teams with a losing record - Washington twice, Detroit (2-14) and Chicago (7-9).

Tennessee and Houston are tied atop the rankings at .547. AFC teams have six of the top 10 spots.

Super Bowl champion New Orleans, largely because of the NFC South, has the 27th toughest schedule at .469.

Here are the Eagles' opponents with 2009 records:

* Home: Dallas (11-5), Giants (8-8), Washington (4-12), Green Bay (11-5), Minnesota (12-4), Atlanta (9-7), Houston (9-7), Indianapolis (14-2).

* Away: Dallas (11-5), Giants (8-8), Washington (4-12), Chicago (7-9), Detroit (2-14), San Francisco (8-8), Jacksonville (7-9), Tennessee (8-8).

McNabb reports

ESPN reported this week that three teams - Cleveland, Denver and Buffalo - have had multiple conversations with the Eagles about Donovan McNabb.

Two Broncos sources emphatically told the Denver Post that there is "no truth" to suggestions that McNabb could land in Denver.

Eagles coach Andy Reid has said McNabb would be his quarterback and McNabb has insisted that is what he expects and wants. *