The Philadelphia Eagles may have taken a slight step backwards in 2018 after winning Super Bowl 52 to cap off a thrilling 2017 campaign, but the NFC East Super Bowl hopefuls will enter the 2019 season with some high hopes of getting back to the big dance and nothing less.
Whether franchise signal-caller Carson Wentz can lift the Birds back to serious Super Bowl contention or whether Philly fails to live up to their postseason hopes remains to be seen, but either way, there are a bunch of things you need to know about the Birds before they take to the gridiron for th upcoming 2019 NFL regular season. let’s get started right now.
Philadelphia Eagles 2019 NFL Season Betting Guide
Betting Statistics
- ATS: 9-7 (W-L) / 7-9-0 (ATS) / 3-5-0 (Home) / 4-4-0 (Away) / 6-7-0 (Grass) / 1-2-0 (Turf)
- O/U: 7-9-0 (W-L) / 2-6-0 (Home) / 5-3-0 (Away) / 5-8-0 (Grass) / 2-1-0 (Turf) / 44.7 (Total)
The Eagles went a solid 9-7 and reached the playoffs for the second straight season under head coach Doug Pederson while upsetting NFC North champion Chicago in the wild card round before falling to New Orleans in a thriller in the divisional round. The Birds came up just short of reaching .500 against the spread (7-9 ATS) while posting an identical 7-9 mark against the Over/Under total and playing Over the total in five of their eight road dates.
Offense
- Total Yards: 365.3 / Rank 14
- Passing Yards: 267.2 / Rank 7
- Rushing Yards: 98.1 /Rank 28
- Points Scored: 22.9 / Rank 18
- Field Goal %: 83.9 / Rank 18
The Eagles closed out the 2018 regular season ranked a middling 14th overall, an encouraging seventh in passing, and uninspiring 18th in points scored (22.9 ppg). Unfortunately, Philadelphia also finished a dismal 28th in rushing. To address their needs on the offensive side of the ball, Philadelphia drafted Washington State tackle Andre Dillard with the 22nd overall pick before adding Penn State wide receiver Miles Sanders and Stanford wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, both in the second round.
Defense
- Total Yards: 366.2 / Rank 23
- Passing Yards: 269.2 / Rank 30
- Rushing Yards: 96.9 /Rank 7
- Points Allowed: 21.8 / Rank 12
- Field Goal %: 86.5 / Rank 18
The Eagles finished the 2018 campaign ranked an uninspiring 23rd overall, a pitiful 30th against the pass, an encouraging seventh against the run and a decent 12th in points allowed (21.8 ppg). To address their needs on the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles signed former Jaguars defensive tackle Malik Jackson, former Tampa Bay defensive end Vinny Curry and former Steelers linebacker L.J. Fort in free agency while re-signing cornerback Ronald Darby and safety Andrew Sendejo.
Team Leaders
- Touchdowns: Zach Ertz (8)
- Rushing: Josh Adams (511)
- Passing: Carson Wentz (3074)
- Receiving: Zach Ertz (1163)
- Sacks: Fletcher Cox (10.5)
- Interceptions: Rasul Douglas (3)
Last season, tight end Zach Ertz led the team in touchdowns scored and receiving yards while running back Josh Adams led the team in rushing with a modest 511 yards in 14 games. Quarterback Carson Wentz passed for a team-high 3,074 yards despite dealing with injuries that caused him to miss five games, including their playoff run for the second straight postseason. Still, the talented Wentz completed a blistering 69.6 percent of his passes while tossing 21 TD passes and just seven interceptions. Pro Bowl defensive tackle Fletcher Cox led the team in sacks with a career-high 10.5 while cornerback Rasul Douglas led the Birds in interceptions in his second season.
Outlook
Sure, the Eagles took a slight step backwards in 2018, but it wasn’t so big that anyone shouldn’t think they can contend again in 2019. I know the Birds parted ways with veteran quarterback Nick Foles, but lest anyone forget, Carson Wentz was playing at a league MVP level in 2017 before he went down with a season-ending ACL injury.
The Eagles have a pair of tough matchups against NFC East division rival Dallas and four other tough division matchups against Washington and New York. Philly also has some challenging non-division matchups against Atlanta, Green Bay, Minnesota, Chicago, New England and Seattle, I think it’s quite reasonable to bank on the Birds to reach the double-digit win mark in 2019 while challenging to make a deep run in the playoffs. I’m also expecting Carson Wentz to have a huge season and if he does, the sky’s the limit for Philadelphia.
