Why do I get the feeling that if you asked Doug Pederson about the Eagles opening-night victory against the Falcons, which can best be described as 'winning ugly,' he would say, "I'll take 17 more just like it."
The Birds were not exactly overpowering in taking down the Falcons in what was something of an instant replay of their NFC Divisional playoff game from last January.
There were the Falcons, six points down and sitting on the doorstop with a chance to win. But Matt Ryan, the Exton native who for some reason does not play well in his home town, misfired again. His last gasp effort to get the ball to wideout Julio Jones was pulled in by the stud wide receiver - but he was out of bounds.
The defense once again kept the high-powered Atlanta offense out of the end zone aside from one long drive.
In the meantime, Nick Foles and the Eagles' offense looked very much like the same offense that played most of the preseason. Not terribly impressive.
It was left for Pederson and Foles to cook up another gadget play to put some spark in the office. Instead of 'Philly Special,' this one was 'Philly Philly,' a play stolen out of the Patriots' playbook. Remember the pass that Tom Brady dropped in the Super Bowl. Nick Foles snagged the pass from Nelson Agholor, who had taken a handoff from Corey Clement, and rumbled for a first down.
Foles and company will have to do more for the Birds to beat Tampa Bay Sunday. The Bucs exploded on offense with Ryan Fitzpatrick subbing for starter Jameis Winston.
That might mean resting on Foles' somewhat questionable right arm.
Both running backs Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles are nursing balky hamstrings.
Top wide receiver Alshon Jeffery will remain on the sidelines.
Look for a huge dose of tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert.
This would not be a good week for kicker Jake Elliott to have any hiccups. The Birds will need all the points they can get.
I'm not sold even a little bit on the Eagles offense at this point.
But the defense remains solid. They'll keep the Falcons out of the end zone enough for the Birds to escape with the win and go to 2-0.
Then we can all go back to conjecturing about when Carson Wentz returns to the lineup.
My answer? Not until the Eagles lose. There's no need to expose him at this point.
THE PICK: Make it Eagles 23, Tampa 13. Foles won't be lights out, but he doesn't have to be with this defense. All this guy does is win. Hard to argue with that.
LAST WEEK: I'm already in the hole. I went with the Falcons and came up just as empty as the Falcons did in the red zone. The Eagles get a win on national TV to kick off the NFL season. They sit at 1-0, while I'm looking up at them at 0-1.
GAME BY GAME: Eagles 18, Falcons 12. (My Pick: Falcons 27, Eagles 13)
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