10 Eagles Predictions for Second Half

The Eagles’ bye comes at precisely the halfway point of the season.

Armed with that resume of work, here are some predictions for the second half of the team’s season:

The Eagles will go 4-4 over their final eight games to finish with a record of 7-8-1 and win the NFC East for the second straight season and go to the playoffs for the fourth straight year. The record isn’t much to speak, for sure, but it would still be an accomplishment to win the division since no team has gone back-to-back with the NFC East title since 2003 and 2004 when it was…you guessed it, the Eagles.

Now what? The Eagles get to the playoffs and who do they host?

With the expanded playoffs, the No. 2 seed must play on wildcard weekend. Only the No. 1 seed gets a first-round bye, so the second seed would play the No. 7 seed. The Eagles would be the fourth seed and have to play the No. 5 seed.

The fifth seed, the way I see it, will be the New Orleans Saints, a team the Eagles will host on Dec. 13. It will be New Orleans, however, moving on in the playoffs, leaving Philly to ponder a second-straight first-round exit from the postseason.

Carson Wentz will be benched if he doesn’t play better. The fan base is screaming for it, and Doug Pederson has a track record of sitting a player down to try to watch the game from a different perspective having done it with Nelson Agholor in 2016.

Whether Wentz is benched for a game or just a series or two, one or the other will happen.

The coach may have even alluded to the possibility of it happening.

“He understands he has to get better in that area (of turning the ball over),
said Pederson. “We also understand that our backup quarterbacks here, Jalen (Hurts) and Nate (Sudfeld) have got to be prepared, whether it's a situation like that or an injury situation where they have to go in and play.”

See what the coach did there?

Pederson also said this:

“Carson is our starter and we got a lot of trust and faith in him that he can get the job done…We continue to coach. We continue to work every day. Carson understands that he has to get better. He's mentioned that. He's said that. And we move forward.”

Wentz will play long enough and well enough, though, to still finish with more touchdowns than interceptions. Right now, he has 12 of each. With some healthy weapons back, including Dallas Goedert and Jalen Reagor, with the hope that Miles Sanders and Zach Ertz return before Thanksgiving, Wentz will threaten 30 TD passes. Alas, he could hit 20 picks, too.

Travis Fulgham will be the first Eagles receiver to record more than 1,000 yards receiving in a season since Jeremy Maclin put up 1,318 in 2014. Zach Ertz had 1,163, two years ago but he, of course, is a tight end.

After just five games played this season, Fulgham is on pace for 75 catches, 1,131 yards, and 10 touchdowns.

Joran Mailata will start another game. We have not heard the last of everyone’s favorite left tackle, not with Lane Johnson and Jason Peters battling injury and, in Peters’ case, age, too. Credit Peters for playing well in his return from IR against the Cowboys last week, and credit Peters, too, for lasting every offensive snap. He did a lot of limping around and was slow to get up after some plays, but he hung tough.

Still, it’s only a matter of time before he has to take a game or more off, and who knows what condition Johnson’s ankle and knee issues are in at this point?

Rookie Jalen Reagor will remind everyone why he was drafted 21st overall with a second-half that will see him catch more than 30 passes with four more touchdowns over the final eight games. In just three games this season, Reagor has eight catches for 112 yards and one TD.

The Eagles’ defense won’t finish in the top 10. Right now, the unit is ninth overall in the league but has had difficulty stopping the run, ranking 24th Against the pass, though, they are fifth.

The Eagles will be challenged by some very good offenses in the second half and some very good passing quarterbacks, including Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, New Orleans’ Drew Brees, and Seattle’s Russell Wilson.

Meanwhile, quarterback Kyler Murray is a dual-threat who has the Cardinals’ offense ranked first in the league. Seattle’s offense is third, Green Bay’s ninth, and New Orleans’ 10th.

If the Eagles D holds its ground and finishes in the top 10, that will be very impressive.

The linebackers will be better. Already, we have seen a bit of a turnaround, with Alex Singleton stepping into a more prominent role. T.J. Edwards was all over the field against Dallas and had 13 tackles with a game-changing strip-sack fumble.

In case you missed it in that game, linebackers were the three top tacklers for the Eagles, with Edwards followed by Singleton with seven for second place, and Duke Riley was tied for third with Josh Sweat, both of whom had six tackles.

Darius Slay will lead the team in interceptions. OK, Slay doesn’t have one, yet, and only once in his eight-year career has he been shut out of picks and that was as a rookie. So, the track record is there and it’s not like anyone on the team is running away with the interception lead. Heck, the Eagles have just three and they are from three different players: Singleton, Jalen Mills, and Rodney McLeod.

Get the latest Eagles news by joining the community. Click "Follow" at the top right of the EagleMaven page. Mobile users click the notification bell. And please follow me on Twitter @kracze.