23 intriguing stats ahead of the Eagles Week 1 game versus Patriots
By Jake Beckman
The Eagles' first game versus the New England Patriots approaches, and we're crunching the numbers.
Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season was one to remember for the Philadelphia Eagles. The Detroit Lions were the opponent. There were tense moments as the Lions played their hearts out and gave it all they had. Fortunately, the right team one. Fast forward to the present, and we're back at it again.
This time around, the Eagles' first test is a road date versus the New England Patriots. They’re dangerous purely because of one man, their head coach, Bill Belichick. There are typically a lot of question marks when it comes to a Week 1 game, but when you’re playing chess with the G.O.A.T., there are more. His career has given us a huge sample size with consistent results.
Let’s look at some of Bill Belichick's numbers as a head coach
He’s been the head coach of the New England Patriots since 2000, making this his 24th season in that position. He's had five different quarterbacks start over his first 23 seasons, so when we get into stats of the Belichick era, know that offensively, the times have changed, especially seeing as how the best QB he coached left a few years ago.
1. Belichick is 16-7 in Week 1 games.
Belichick won ten straight opening-day tilts from 2004 to 2013. That includes the 2008 season where Tom Brady blew his knee into tiny little pieces in the middle of the first quarter of their first game.
2. Belichick is 11-3 in Week 1 games at home.
The Patriots only had one Week 1 loss at home during the Brady era. That was in 2017, the year the Birds won the Super Bowl.
3. Belichick is 2-4 in Week 1 games without Tom Brady as the starter (‘00, ‘01, ‘16, ‘20-’22).
Two of those losses came in his first two years as the HC for the Patriots with Drew Bledsoe. The two wins were with Jimmy Garoppolo (after Deflate-Gate in 2016) and Cam Newton in 2020.
4. Belichick is 0-2 in Week 1 games with Mac Jones.
It's very funny to go from two decades of elite quarterback play to what they have now. To be clear, we're laughing at them.