Yes, I'm weighing in a day early. Call it the Dreaded Black Friday Eagles Pick.
9-1, baby!
How's that for a reason to be thankful.
And the Cowboys got into the Philly holiday spirit, getting embarrassed for the second straight week at home in Jerry Jones Palace, as they put up another turkey Thursday in falling to the Chargers. The loss leaves the Cowboys reeling at 5-6, losers of three straight by 20 points or more. All of those games have come without suspended stud running back Ezekiel Elliott. Without him, and with an ailing offensive line, QB Dak Prescott has not exactly looked like the say guy who was an MVP candidate last year.
In the meantime, here in Philly, everyone has spent the week guarding against two ugly words: Trap game.
The Bears are in town, sporting a 3-7 record.
The game comes after the Birds Sunday night demolition of the Cowboys, and sandwiched in between a two-week West Coast trip where the Eagles will face the Rams in L.A. and Seattle.
Doug Pederson has done just about everything right in this magical season.
That's why I'm banking on the Birds to take care of business vs. the Bears.
Oh, and a couple of other things.
The game will feature two quarterbacks who both went No. 2 in the draft. Who would you rather have, Mitchell Trubisky or Carson Wentz. The Bears can only hope Trubisky mimics what Wentz did last year, builds on that and then takes off in his sophomore season next year, much the way Wentz has this season.
But the Bears have a bigger problem. They depend on a ground game led by Jordan Howard, who actually leads the NFC with 841 yards rushing. The problem for Chicago is that nobody has run the ball on the Eagles' stout defense. I don't think that changes this week.
Instead I think it is the Birds, with their four-headed monster backfield, that dominates the line of scrimmage and grinds out another methodical win.
THE PICK: Make it Eagles 31, Bears 13. That's right. I don't think this one is going to be close. If it's one thing the Eagles have done this season it is beat the teams they are supposed to be. They are supposed to beat the Bears. I think Doug Pederson will have them ready to roll.
LAST WEEK: Any win over the Cowboys is sweet. To do it in prime time, in a Sunday night encounter on national TV and in Jerry Jones' palace only makes it that much better. After they spent the first half trying to shake off the rust and getting back in sync, the Birds came out of the locker room trailing 9-7 and simply imposed their will in a dominating effort vs. Dallas. The huge win pushed the Eagles' NFL-best mark to 9-1. I remain in hot pursuit, picking another winner to improve my record to 8-2.
GAME BY GAME: Chiefs 27, Eagles 20. (My Pick: Chiefs 33, Eagles 17)
Eagles 30, Redskins 17. (My Pick: Eagles 26, Redskins 13)
Eagles 27, Giants 24. (My Pick: Eagles 23, Giants 17)
Eagles 26, Chargers 24. (My Pick: Chargers 27, Eagles 17)
Eagles 34, Cardinals 7. (My Pick: Eagles 29, Cardinals 24)
Eagles 28, Panthers 23. (My Pick: Panthers 26, Eagles 17)
Eagles 34, Redskins 24. (My Pick: Eagles 31, Redskins 19)
Eagles 33, 49ers 10. (My Pick: Eagles 24, 49ers 10)
Eagles 51, Broncos 23 (My Pick: Eagles 23, Broncos 19)
Eagles 37, Cowboys 9 (My Pick: Eagles 29, Cowboys 17)
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