The Eagles Have A Very Favorable 2021 Schedule… And It’s A Shame
By Connor Thomas
The NFL Schedule reveal was yesterday night, and all things considered, the Eagles made out very very well with how their 2021 schedule shook out. Here’s a look at the full 2021 slate:
Regular Season
Sunday, September 12 at Atlanta Falcons 1:00 pm FOX
Sunday, September 19 San Francisco 49ers 1:00 pm FOX
Monday, September 27 at Dallas Cowboys 8:15 pm ESPN^
Sunday, October 3 Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 pm CBS
Sunday, October 10 at Carolina Panthers 1:00 pm+ FOX
Thursday, October 14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 8:20 pm+ FOX/NFLN/Amazon^
Sunday, October 24 at Las Vegas Raiders 4:05 pm+ FOX
Sunday, October 31 at Detroit Lions 1:00 pm+ FOX
Sunday, November 7 Los Angeles Chargers 4:05 pm+ CBS
Sunday, November 14 at Denver Broncos 4:25 pm+ CBS
Sunday, November 21 New Orleans Saints 1:00 pm+ FOX
Sunday, November 28 at New York Giants 1:00 pm+ FOX
Sunday, December 5 at New York Jets 1:00 pm+ CBS
Sunday, December 12 BYE
Sat., Dec. 18 / Sun., Dec. 19* Washington Football Team TBD+ TBD
Sunday, December 26 New York Giants 1:00 pm+ FOX
Sunday, January 2 at Washington Football Team 1:00 pm+ FOX
Sunday, January 9 Dallas Cowboys 1:00 pm+ FOX
The only negative thing that really stands out is that the Eagles’ bye week is rather late in the season, coming in at week 14. Ideally you would want your bye to fall somewhere closer to the middle of the season, but this is a relatively minor gripe. There are numerous positives that pop out when you dive into the structure of the birds’ 2021 campaign, starting with the fact that they play all of their tougher opponents at home. The only teams that the Eagles play with over .500 records from the 2020 season are Kansas City, Tampa Bay, and New Orleans. All 3 of those teams have to come to Philadelphia this year. The improved Chargers and the retooled 49ers also have to travel across the country to come to Philly. Alternatively, the non-division road trips for the Eagles are not world beaters in the least, considering that outside of the Raiders (who went 8-8), every one of the Eagles non-NFC East road opponents drafted inside of the top 10 in this year’s draft. Not only are the road trips against bottom feeders for the Eagles, but the distance they have to travel is also manageable. Besides the trips to Las Vegas and Denver, the birds only leave the East Coast 1 other time: a nice easy trip to Detroit where they don’t even leave the time zone. For the final 7 weeks of the schedule, the Eagles won’t even have to get on a plane.
The build of the schedule is about as easy as it could’ve possibly been. It’s just a shame that this is the year that the NFL decided to throw the birds a bone. Not to be completely negative about a season that doesn’t start for another 3 months, but you would be hard pressed to find someone who has the Eagles as a playoff contender this year. The team is in the midst of a major rebuild, and still has a lot of questions that will need to be answered this year if they want to be even remotely competitive. It may end up even being detrimental to the course of the rebuild that the Eagles got such an easy schedule, considering how beneficial it could be to have another top 10 pick in next year’s draft. It may seem counterintuitive to be annoyed with an easy schedule, but for all the years that the Eagles fielded a competitive team and had to make multiple West Coast trips, or play a bunch of juggernauts on the road, of course the rebuild year would be the one that they get dealt their best hand. Either way, this will still be a compelling season for Eagles fans, especially now that they can return to The Linc. It just seems like a cruel twist of fate that the easiest schedule in years is gifted to what is expected to be one of the least competitive Eagles teams in recent memory.
