Philadelphia Eagles versus Detroit Lions: Here’s what to expect in Week 1

The NFL season is officially underway and the Philadelphia Eagles begin their journey Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Detroit against the scrappy Lions. If one thing is certain, the Eagles aren’t facing the same team that they beat by a 44-6 margin last season.

The Lions are a physical and tough team under head coach Dan Campbell. Sunday will give us our first look at the Eagles offense with a (hopefully) improved Jalen Hurts and new superstar wideout, A.J. Brown. While the expectations are sky high, this won’t be a walk in the park.

The one concern that immediately comes to mind is the team’s lack of real game competition. The starters played one drive together during the preseason in Week 1 versus the Jets, and even in that instance, they weren’t on the field long enough to create any real cohesion.

They saw valuable reps during joint practices, but you still have to wonder if the offense is clicking on all cylinders yet. Miles Sanders has missed about a month of practice but is now expected to play Sunday. Jason Kelce missed a bulk of time with an elbow injury, but he is also playing. This will be the first time that all of the Eagles’ starters have taken the field together in a very long time.

While expectations are sky high, don’t expect a high-scoring Eagles blowout in Detroit like last season.

There will still be some rust to shake off in Week 1. With that being said, the Eagles still have enough talent on offense to put up an ample amount of points. Returning the best offensive line in football, a more developed Jalen Hurts, and a plethora of offensive weapons to spread the ball around too is a great recipe to put up points. It just may not look as pretty early as everyone expects.

Even with the talent on the field, it may take the Eagles’ offense a little bit to kick it into high gear. That could be one drive, one half, or one game. There is no reason to overreact if things don’t go as planned early on Sunday. Everyone is still getting used to playing with one another.

Looking at all the talent on the Eagles’ offense it can be easy to see them and expect 35 points or more in every game. They have the talent to be one of the top offenses in the league but don’t expect them to explode out of the starting block immediately. Every team will need a tune-up in week one.

The game figures to be a dogfight, but the Eagles have the talent to overpower the Lions. Expect a more hard-fought game this time around and look to see how the offense operates with more talent than last season.