Philadelphia Eagles 2009 NFL Projection:
Last season we projected the Philadelphia Eagles to finish (9-7), which they
nearly did at (9-6-1), but we thought that would place them in 4th place in the
competitive NFC East. As it played out (9-7) was good for 2nd place and a playoff berth.
Coming into 2009, the Eagles are a popular pick to have another great season.
And why not?
The Eagles made a splash in the draft, adding two skill position players,
WR Jeremy Maclin who’s hving a nice preseason, and of course RB LeSean McCoy,
intended to serve as a Brian Westbrook clone.
Everyone knows how hard Westbrook plays, which often results in early injury.
With McCoy, perhaps the Eagles’ offense won’t skip a beat should Westbrook
become sidelined again. Not to mention, McCoy can share the load in general.
Additionally, FB Leonard Weaver was added who ought to help the Eagles in those
pesky 3rd and 1’s.
Of course Philadelphia’s offense lost LT Tra Thomas and RT Jon Runyan. But they replaced these key offensive line
positions with LT Jason Peters from Buffalo and with RG Shawn Andrews (in house, shifting to RT). Granted, Andrews’ back
has aggravated him in preseason (and everyone else who bleeds green). But he’s slated to return
shortly… Shawn’s brother Stacy was signed from Cincinnati to take over his old position at right guard.
The Eagles’ offensive line ought to be one of the better units in the league in 2009.
On the downside, LG Todd Herremans suffered a stress fracture in his left foot and is likely to miss the
first quarter of the season. Backup Nick Cole looks to fill in.
And as if the Eagles’ offense was short on news in 2009, they recently signed the controversial Michael Vick.
It almost seems like yesterday when the McNabb and the Eagles topped Vick and the Falcons in the NFC title game
back in 2005… Vick of course brings a unique set of legs to the quarterback position.
On the other side of the ball, the Eagles had the third ranked defense in the league last season.
They parted ways with FS Brian Dawkins… Quintin Demps has large shoes to fill.
Lito Sheppard also departed. New England’s Ellis Hobbs joins the unit.
The secondary appears to still be a decent unit led by Asante Samuel.
Unfortunately leading tackler, MLB Stewart Bradley was lost for the season with a torn ACL.
And let’s honor defensive coordinator Jim Johnson who passed away.
Sean McDermott takes over.
What makes the Eagles’ defense tick is their defensive line, headed by run stuffers
Paterson and Bunkley– and of course sack artists Trent Cole and Darren Howard.
Schedule Analysis:
When all was seemingly lost last season, the Eagles put together a furious stretch run to land them into
the postseason, which continued all the way to the NFC Championship game (a loss at Arizona).
In ’09, Philadelphia’s schedule starts much lighter than usual; thanks to drawing the ever so
weak on paper AFC West, with two such games early in the season…
Check out the Eagles’ first 5 games;
As you can see above, Philly will play three home games in a row in their first five; against teams not expected to have strong defenses (their bye is wedged in
week 4).
Their following game in this stretch is at Oakland.
Anything less than a record of (4-1) heading into their week 7
Monday night game at Washington would be extremely disappointing– especially since the Eagles have a very tough
week 7 through week 17 including
two games remaining with each of their division rivals, the
New York Giants,
Dallas Cowboys, and
Washington Redskins…
Not to mention games
@San Diego,
@Chicago,
and
@Atlanta.
The take home message is the Eagles may need another strong finish to make the playoffs due to
their rough schedule. Therefore, they need to take care of business in the early going when their
schedule is lighter.
Record Projection:
Overall we forecast an (11-5) campaign for the 2009 Philadelphia Eagles as they certainly
have some of the best talent in the league.
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Remember these now archived 2009 NFL forecasts were made
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