The Hype Bowl

The Eagles generated a lot of buzz in the offseason with an impressive haul of new players via trades, free agency and the draft. They went from being a team to watch to a team that everyone is talking about. The Lions played much better in the second half of the 2021 season and had a solid offseason. They were the subject of Hard Knocks and a lot of people fell in love with the team, players and coaches. Now they are a team that is generating a lot of hype.

That makes Sunday’s showdown between the Eagles and Lions the Hype Bowl. Someone is going to lose and that will send some people scrambling to explain why they were so high on the team for the past month.

On paper, the Eagles are clearly the better team. They are more talented. They are healthier. They are coming off the better season. A lot of things point to an Eagles win.

Most Season-Opening Victories
(@NFL Teams Since 2011)

9-2 . . . @Eagles
8-3 . . . Broncos
8-3 . . . Chiefs
8-3 . . . Patriots
8-3 . . . 49ers#FlyEaglesFly

— John Gonoude (@john_gonoude) September 9, 2022

But don’t sleep on the Lions. They lost to the Eagles last year 44-6 and that was the lowpoint of their season. Detroit turned things around after that and is full of optimism heading into 2022. They aren’t talking about the Super Bowl, but they feel like they can compete this year and make a push for a playoff spot.

I think people are too high on Detroit. I see an improved roster, but one that still lacks depth and top shelf talent. I know a lot of people love Dan Campbell and the speeches he gives. I lived through the Ray Rhodes era in Philly. Talking about heart and toughness and fighting for 60 minutes isn’t a sustainable plan for the long term. I hope I’m wrong about Campbell because he seems like a legitimately good guy, but I’ve got concerns about whether he can get this team beyond being competitive.

Enough long term talk…what about Sunday? Campbell will have his guys fired up and ready to roll. The Eagles better not look back to last year and expect an easy game.

The big issue for the Lions is their OL. Starting center Frank Ragnow missed practice on Thursday, but did return on Friday. I’m guessing he plays, but he won’t be 100 percent. They will have their third string LG starting due to a couple of injuries. That means they could be weak up the middle against an Eagles defense that will have Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Jordan Davis and Milton Williams attacking them. Advantage Eagles.

I’m really curious to see how the Eagles defense does. They have a ton of talent. This is a game where they should play well. I’m excited to see what Haason Reddick does. He’ll play LB and DE. I’m expecting him to attack off the edge a lot. It will also be fun to see the return of Brandon Graham and the debut of Jordan Davis.

How much will Chauncey Gardner-Johnson play? I’m guessing a lot, despite the odd comments from the coaches. That feels more like them playing games with their comments rather than giving us real info. Marcus Epps has had a strong summer. Now is the time for him to show he can get the job done in the regular season.

The Eagles have to limit TE TJ Hockenson. Lions guru Jeff Risdon shared an interesting nugget.

No tight end in NFL history has ever thrived in Week 1 games as well as Hockenson has to start his career. Per the Lions’ PR department, Hockenson is the first TE to rack up at least 50 receiving yards and a TD in Week 1 games in each of his first three seasons.

TEs gave the Eagles fits at times last year so Hockenson won’t be easy to slow down. An improved back seven should help.

The big story on Sunday will be the Eagles debut for AJ Brown. There hasn’t been this much hype on an Eagles receiver since TO came to town back in 2004. That doesn’t mean Brown needs to catch three TD passes, but I’m very excited to see what he brings to the passing game. He’ll affect the defense whether the ball comes to him or not.

Jalen Hurts has a lot of pressure on him this season. It would help him to get off to a strong start. The Lions want to be aggressive on defense so play-action passes could be especially effective against their LBs. I like the matchup of Quez Watkins vs Mike Hughes. I could see the Eagles coaches trying to exploit that by taking advantage of Watkins’ speed.

Miles Sanders will play. The question is whether he’ll be able to play the whole game or if he’ll have any issues. Both Kenny Gainwell and Boston Scott looked good this summer so I expect they’ll be mixed in on a regular basis.

DE Aidan Hutchinson was the #1 overall pick and he has the potential to be very disruptive. That said, he’ll be facing the biggest challenge of his football career.

Offensive tackle island rate (when they receive no help) vs their raw success rate on such plays. Typically if a player is left on an island more often, it's because they perform better than others in those situations pic.twitter.com/3W23A91eQi

— Arjun Menon (@arjunmenon100) September 8, 2022

If you weren’t sure how good Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata are, check out that graphic. That’s a pair of shutdown tackles.

If the Lions play with a light box, the Eagles will run on them. It will be interesting to see if Detroit focuses on coverage or stopping the run. With all their weapons, the Eagles should have an answer either way.

This is a game the Eagles should win, but they will need to play well. All 32 teams are full of confidence in Week 1. Some of that will turn out to be delusional, but that will take a week or two to find out. You can bet the Lions will be highly motivated on Sunday.

*****

In case you had any questions about anything…here you go. Great work by Deniz. Follow him on Twitter if  you’re on there.

On the eve of the 2022 #Eagles season, here's an archive of the 2021 game-by-game roster moves, snap counts by both player and personnel groupings, practice squad elevations, etc.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/xn3SRZG5er

— Deniz Selman (@denizselman33) September 10, 2022

_