What's your win prediction for the Eagles this season?

[Iggloo]

Bovada, the betting site, has the over/under on the Eagles at 9 wins.

What do you think the total will be? Here is mine.

I think 7 wins. Bradford is a gimp and Sanchez is mediocre. Our team has no QB, an aging offensive line, and no proven #1 or #2 caliber wide receivers.

Dallas will win 11 and win the division. They are separating from us this offeseason. They had a strong draft and then got La'el Collins. They just caught a break with the Brady suspension and will face the Pats without Brady.

 

[Iron Eagle]

11 wins. Bradford is comeback player of the year.

Lose in second round of the playoffs.

 

[deerpathdave]

19. Anything less is just the wrong attitude. No tanking here.

 

[Iggloo]

Do you understand the word prediction Dave?

 

[WIZ]

12. Like Bradford a lot and the schedule isn't particularly difficult.

 

[deerpathdave]

Do you understand the word prediction Dave?

lol. Okay.
- I think this team is well constructed with limited downside. They have players at all positions and adequate depth at everything but perhaps Offensive Line.
- What they lack in known quantities at Safety and Defensive Back are made up for in depth. Quality players will emerge.
- The schedule is the easiest in several years.
- This team is unlikely to have anything less than 8 wins. For that to happen, they would most likely have suffered a rash of injuries at one or more spots.
- If all goes according to plan, this team could be a 12+ win team and make a deep run in the playoffs. That plan would include
- Bradford stays healthy and shows the skills that made him a #1 overall pick.
- DeMurray, Matthews and Sproles comprise the best running game in the league.
- The offensive line stays healthy and play to their potential with 4 Pro Bowl offensive lineman.
- Agholor is an immediate contributor for the WR corps.
- The defensive line repeats its strong performance.
- Brandon Graham is an effective replacement for Cole and Smith make a big leap forward in year 2.
- ILB play sees a big jump up with the addition of great players in Kiko and Jordan.
- Rowe and Maxwell work well at Corners, and a player like Watkins emerges as a quality #2 Safety.

As you can see, there are so many moving parts on a football team, that anything can happen. Sometimes you just happen to face the right team in the right week when they are missing a key player or two. The best you can realistically hope for is that your team is competitive week in and week out. After all, this is the NFL, the most competitive league in the world and every team comes to play.

 

[Iggloo]

So...12 wins? That's your number?

 

[deerpathdave]

So...12 wins? That's your number?

Sure. Barring a rash of injuries. Kelly didn't remake this team to win 10 games again. They go 4-2 in the division with losses to the Giants and Cowboys, and then win all the non division games except the New England game and one other game where everything goes wrong.

 

[Iggloo]

I agree that he didn't want to win 10 again, he rolled the dice.

But...is "barring a rash of injuries" actually realistic when you acquire a boatload of injured or injury prone players?

 

[iceman42]

Going with 11 based on we got 10 with Sanchez/Foles battery and I figure Bradford will get us 9 in the first 10 games before deciding to retire and marry his lover Bruce Jenner ... who are then tragicly killed in a unicycle accident. Sanchez will get us the next win on the final day of the season.

 

[deerpathdave]

I agree that he didn't want to win 10 again, he rolled the dice.

But...is "barring a rash of injuries" actually realistic when you acquire a boatload of injured or injury prone players?

They have great depth overall.
- At QB a 5th overall pick backing up a 1st overall pick.
- At RB, a 1st rounder backing up a league leading rusher.
- At ILB, a 3rd round pick is 4th on the depth chart.
- A 2nd rounder sitting behind two good OLBs.
etc, etc etc.

But at OL, they go straight from Pro Bowl to street Free Agent. That is pretty much what bit them last year was the stretch where they were missing a few Offensive lineman. They have protected themselves everywhere else which is why I see limited downside. 8 wins is pretty much the floor IMO.

 

[Iggloo]

Some of you are drinking Big Gulps of that Sam Bradford Kool-aid it seems, before the guy even takes a practice snap.

Twelve wins? Wow.

 

[deerpathdave]

Some of you are drinking Big Gulps of that Sam Bradford Kool-aid it seems, before the guy even takes a practice snap.

Twelve wins? Wow.

To be fair, I could see this team getting 12 games with Sanchez. Its not all on Bradford. They have a top notch OL, RBs, a young but exciting receiving corps. Whoever starts at QB will do well with this group. Sanchez is just more likely to turn the ball over, but he knows that and in the second year I think he is capable of improving on that.

 

[deerpathdave]

With Bradford, while I do think it is his job to lose, I also don't think that Kelly is going to start the second best QB. If Bradford is slow coming up to speed in this offense, I would not be at all surprised to see Sanchez starting. Kelly is greedy about winning games.

 

[PhillyGreen]

Some of you are drinking Big Gulps of that Sam Bradford Kool-aid it seems, before the guy even takes a practice snap.

Twelve wins? Wow.

It is not about Kool it is about looking at the team as a whole. In my opinion the team is better than it was last year. There are some concerns about health but if you base it on talent alone it is not off based to believe this team can win 12 games.

Some of us chose to be optimistic. What is wrong with that? Your prediction is based on nothing but negativity.

 

[deerpathdave]

It is not about Kool it is about looking at the team as a whole. In my opinion the team is better than it was last year. There are some concerns about health but if you base it on talent alone it is not off based to believe this team can win 12 games.

Some of us chose to be optimistic. What is wrong with that? Your prediction is based on nothing but negativity.

Yep. Better DBs, better ILBs, potentially better QB, at least even at RB and not a huge dropoff at WR. That and an easier schedule.

 

[Iggloo]

Here is my take:

Defense: Better
Offense: Worse
Special Teams: Same
Division: Stronger

That's how I come up with my negative take.

Our offensive line is one year older, didn't stay healthy last year, and we added zero depth.

Our QB position is a major question mark. It remains to be seen if Bradford/Sanchez can be better than Foles/Sanchez.

On defense, we definitely got better. Upgraded both corner positions, and added Kiko Alonso while only losing an aging Trent Cole. That's an upgrade for sure.

 

[eaglesnut]

Not only was this team rebuilt to win 11+ games this year but it was rebuilt to win 13+ next year. Booyah

The Dallas board is down the street...

 

[WIZ]

Some of you are drinking Big Gulps of that Sam Bradford Kool-aid it seems, before the guy even takes a practice snap.

Twelve wins? Wow.

You drinking hatorade?

 

[old duke]

I had predicted awhile ago - 12 & 4, and I'm sticking to it.
Last year, if you recall, we had gone ahead of Dallas in the Dec. game, but the D as usual, let us down.
That has been rectified, and I think we will be a real good D. So, we should have won 11 or 12 games lat year without the additions.
Dallas doesn't scare me, although we all wish we would have gotten La'el Collins. I think Chip will find a good replacement for RG, and he may not even be on the roster right now. He isn't a fool, and knows what he has to do. Even if he has to give a high pick next year to do it. Whatever it takes.
I think Matthews and Agholor will both have near 1000 yards. With Bradford's quick release we will see how fast and exciting the O will be. Murray/Matthews/Sproles combined will have near 2000 yards.

12-4.