Dec 31, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) limps off the field after being injured during the fourth quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports Bill Streicher
The Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, but as we wrote at the time, it was the perfect win for sports radio. They did enough to win, but it was a sloppy game and there were 10 days to dissect the first look at the 2024 Eagles.
Jalen Hurts and company are between five-and-a-half and six-point favorites depending upon what sportsbook you look at. The Eagles have the advantage of being at home, but will be without star receiver A.J. Brown, who was ruled out with a hamstring injury yesterday.
Here are game picks from our On Pattison staff for tonight's Falcons-Eagles Monday Night Football tilt.
Tim Kelly
Score: Falcons 23, Eagles 21
Game MVP: Drake London
This just feels like one of those nights where you look up in the fourth quarter and the game hasn't played out how you expected. There were enough concerning moments in Week 1 — Jalen Hurts throwing across his body into the end zone for an interception, a 70-yard Jayden Reed touchdown — to leave you uneasy. The wide receiver depth behind DeVonta Smith, with A.J. Brown out, scares me. And the Falcons are an 0-1 team with a matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs looming in Week 3. As much as I hesitate to pick Kirk Cousins in primetime, I'm gonna do it by a hair.
Kyle Scott
Score: Eagles 32, Falcons 22
Game MVP: Jalen Hurts
There are two types of teams in the NFC East: Perpetual underachieving laughing stocks, and the Eagles. The Cowboys, almost as predictable as the patterns of our celestial buddy, the Sun, fell flat on their face yesterday after their Week 1 #hype exceeded even Skip Bayless levels of absurdity. The Eagles, meanwhile, will maddeningly, and ploddingly (word?), grind their way to another two-score win with a mix of dinks, dunks and tush pushes against a boring Falcons team.
Anthony SanFilippo
Score: Eagles 27, Falcons 24
Game MVP: Saquon Barkley
With no A.J. Brown, the Eagles are going to have to lean on Barkley to try and play a bit more ball control. He proved in Week 1 that he can be a force. He’ll need to do it again in his first game in front of the home crowd. The Falcons are better than they looked in Week 1 and it wouldn’t surprise if this result were reversed. Still, the Eagles are the better team and find a way to hold off Kirk Cousins, Bijan Robinson, Drake London and their crew.
John Foley
Score: Eagles 27 - Falcons 21
Game MVP: DeVonta Smith
It’s a rare team that can lose a player like A.J. Brown and still have a stacked offense. But that’s the enviable position the Birds find themselves in. Expect DeVonta Smith to be targeted heavily, and expect him to come through. The Falcons will try to shorten the game by running the ball, and that may keep the score close. But in the end, the Eagles are just better.
Austin Krell
Score: Eagles 28, Falcons 21
Game MVP: Saquon Barkley; No A.J. Brown ... first game at the Linc ... the scriptwriters couldn’t come up with a better scenario if they tried
Atlanta is ranked bottom 10 in rushing defense. The Eagles’ pre-snap motion was very noticeable in Week 1. I expect them to test what Atlanta is showing on defense and then leverage that pre-snap motion to create holes for Barkley.
