The Eagles‘ official schedule opens with a some favorable matchups, features early trips to Chicago and London and eventually gives way to a series of high-stakes division games as the holiday season begins.
In total, the Eagles have five primetime games and at least a few more in standalone slots as well. The best break may be the six-week stretch after their London trip in which they won’t need to board a flight. The worst? Getting the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams during a potentially pivotal stretch early in the season.
Let’s go through it for an inaugural full-season record prediction:
Week 1: Eagles vs. Washington Commanders, 4:25 p.m., Sunday
Our first look at new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion’s system in earnest comes against a Commanders defense that ranked 31st in EPA/drive and 26th in defensive success rate last season. Washington added first-round linebacker Sonny Styles and a pair of edge rushers in Odafeh Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson to correct the regression the group saw in 2025, but this is still a favorable home opener for the new-look Eagles offense to start things off with.
Prediction: WIN (1-0)
Week 2: Eagles at Tennessee Titans, Time 1:00 p.m., Sunday
Getting the Titans early might prove to be a fortunate break for the Eagles, who need to get off to a decent start to the regular season considering the way things ended last year.
There’s also some potential for sideline fireworks between Eagles coach Nick Sirianni and the combination of Robert Saleh and Brian Daboll on the other side.
Prediction: WIN (2-0)
Week 3: Eagles at Chicago Bears, 8:15 p.m., Monday
Eagles fans should have this game circled for a handful of reasons even beyond the obviously enticing proposition of visiting Chicago in early September for a long weekend.
The absence of splashy offseason moves shouldn’t overshadow that Chicago finished last season winning eight of their final 12 games (including a dominant win against the Eagles on Black Friday) and should represent an early measuring stick for the Eagles with their reworked offensive nucleus and play-caller. This could easily turn into a primetime shootout, and the Bears offense authored by Ben Johnson will serve as an instructive contrast to where the Eagles are with Mannion a few weeks into things.
The quarterback play will also be instructive. Hurts certainly has proven significantly more than Caleb Williams in their respective careers, but the former No. 1 overall pick’s development under Johnson mirrors much of what Hurts will have to improve on to adapt to Mannion’s scheme as well. Perhaps Hurts will already be significantly more comfortable operating out of under-center formations and tying his footwork together with progression reads like Williams has been under Johnson, otherwise this game could represent the work left to do for Mannion and Hurts for the remainder of the season.
Prediction: LOSS (2-1)
Week 4: Eagles vs. Los Angeles Rams, 1:00 p.m., Sunday
For however favorable the Eagles first two games of the season are, getting the Rams on a short week serves as a pretty significant counterbalance.
The matchups between these two teams have been lopsided the last few seasons, but the Rams have spent this offseason closing the gap on the Eagles and the rest of the NFC and should be as tough a draw as just about anyone coming to the Linc in 2026.
If the Eagles stumble out of the gate in the games leading up, this result could produce an early inflection point for this group. If the team gets through those first few games in decent shape, a loss against the Rams wouldn’t be something to fret over, though.
Prediction: LOSS (2-2)
Week 5: Eagles at Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, 9:30 a.m. ET, Sunday
The Jaguars finished last regular season on a eight-game winning streak before flaming out in the wildcard round at home against the Buffalo Bills and going through an offseason mostly defined by departures rather than additions.
They’ll also have a pseudo home-field advantage and comfortability playing in London for a 15th time as a franchise, but it’s still a winnable game for the Eagles, who beat Jacksonville at Wembley Stadium in 2018 and the Green Bay Packers in São Paulo two years ago to maintain a perfect record in regular-season games abroad.
Prediction: WIN (3-2)
Week 6: Eagles vs. Carolina Panthers, Time TBD, Sunday
The Panthers’ pursuit of Jaelan Phillips underscored an offseason in which they spent big in free agency to solidify their defense after a promising end to the 2025 season.
This could be a schedule loss for the Eagles given the timing. They’ll be coming off an international trip and going against a Carolina team that will have spent the lead-up to this game enjoying an early bye week. Still, the gap between them and Carolina on paper entering this season gives me enough confidence to go with the Eagles here.
Prediction: WIN (4-2)
Week 7: Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys, 8:15 p.m., Monday
I laid out why I thought getting the Cowboys early would be a favorable outcome for the Eagles during our Wednesday show, and this timing gives them at least a small chance of catching Dallas in a post-Rio de Janeiro hangover.
Eagles players can attest to the toll the travel to Brazil to open the 2024 season took on them and how important the early-season bye week became as a result. Dallas will be going through something similar after their Week-3 trip to Rio to play the Baltimore Ravens, although they’ll probably also be coming off a bye week shortly before this matchup.
Prediction: WIN (5-2)
Week 8: Eagles at Washington Commanders, 8:20 p.m., Sunday
The Eagles’ last trip to Northwest Stadium featured hats, T-shirts, and cigars as they clinched the NFC East. This game won’t have the same stakes, but the timing makes it more likely that the Eagles will see Jayden Daniels active for both of their matchups against Washington after the 25-year-old missed both games last year.
Prediction: WIN (6-2)
Week 9: Eagles vs. Giants, Time TBD, Sunday
After an offseason of significant change in the coaching ranks and a handful of premium draft selections, the Giants at least have a chance to graduate from a feisty underdog into a potentially difficult matchup depending on the health of their young offensive nucleus. Perhaps that means the Eagles split with them once again this year, but it’s hard to envision them losing at home to a team they’ve had so much success against in recent years.
Prediction: WIN (7-2)
Week 10: BYE WEEK
Week 11: Eagles vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 4:25 p.m., Sunday
Coming off a bye week against a Steelers team in transition, this should be a winnable game even if Aaron Rodgers decides to return for another season in Pittsburgh.
Prediction: WIN (8-2)
Week 12: Eagles at Cowboys, 4:30 p.m., Thursday
If the Bears game does indeed serve as an early measuring stick for the Eagles offense in particular, this Thanksgiving-Day matchup could very well be the mid-season benchmark where it makes most sense to take stock of potential progress. Depending on what happens with George Pickens, Dallas should once again have one of the league’s most productive offenses and spent most of the offseason shoring up one of the least productive defenses by hiring Christian Parker as defensive coordinator and making a handful of additions to fit a scheme built in the image of the Eagles’ under Vic Fangio.
If this game does turn into a high-scoring one, can the Eagles keep pace?
Prediction: LOSS (8-3)
Week 13: Eagles at Arizona Cardinals, time TBD, Sunday
Unless Tanner McKee is starting at quarterback for Arizona — and maybe even then — it’s fair to define the Cardinals as a team undergoing major transition this season and therefore not a major threat to the Eagles.
This is also a great road trip opportunity for Eagles fans to enjoy some warmer weather in early December.
Prediction: WIN (9-3)
Week 14: Eagles vs. Indianapolis Colts, time TBD, Sunday
Getting the Colts late in the year drastically increases the likelihood that Vic Fangio and Co. will be preparing for Daniel Jones upon his return from an Achilles injury that might cost him the first few weeks of the season. If Shane Steichen gets Jones back to the level he was playing at before the injury ended his 2025 season, this could be a sneaky challenge for the Eagles in between a road trip and a difficult stretch to follow.
Prediction: LOSS (9-4)
Week 15: Eagles vs. Seahawks, Time TBD, Saturday
Playing the reigning champs this late in the season could set up a scenario where playoff seeding implications loom large. If both teams live up to their potential, there will also be plenty of chatter about whether this is an NFC championship game preview, but both sides will have to earn that between now and then.
Prediction: LOSS (9-5)
Week 16: Eagles vs. Texans, 8:30, Thursday (Christmas Eve)
Setting aside the Christmas Eve of it all, this game reminds me of the Eagles’ win against the Buffalo Bills in Week 17 last year to some degree. Each team will likely be vying for playoff seeding in their respective conference, but it may have had more juice if it came earlier in the season.
Still, this could end up being a matchup between the two best defenses led by two of the best defensive play-callers in the NFL at this point of the season. Houston ranked No. 2 in success rate and third in EPA/drive last season compared to Vic Fangio’s group at No. 12 and No. 8, respectively.
Especially as both teams gear up for the stretch run, this will serve as a quality litmus test for the Eagles’ ability to play a complete game against a quality opponent.
Prediction: WIN (10-5)
Week 17: @San Fracisco 49ers, 8:30 p.m., Sunday
Considering the injury record of most of the 49ers’ stars, saving the trip to San Francisco for the penultimate week of the regular season is a good outcome for the Eagles.
For as many times as these teams have played each other, it’s the Eagles’ first time playing at Levi’s Stadium since the 2020 stadium as well.
Prediction: WIN (11-5)
Week 18: Eagles at Giants, time TBD, Sunday
Similar to last year against the Commanders, it wouldn’t surprise me if this game has very little riding on it for the Eagles and they elect to rest most of their starters.
But for the sake of respecting the strides the Giants made toward competence this offseason, I’ll predict a series split between them and the Eagles this year.
Prediction: LOSS (11-6)
3 Comments (2 conversations)
Michael Curran
EJ,
The same record as last year that had a tougher schedule. So just the vagaries of another NFL season or the the process of a developing of a new offensive scheme that results in the same record?
Ira Smith
EJ, So you have not written an article in over two weeks. The Birds had a mini camp that all reporters were able to go on Wednesday and no article, got it.