What NFL experts are saying about Sunday’s Patriots-Eagles game

Patriots

Nobody is picking the Patriots to win the Super Bowl. Very few even see them making the playoffs. But there’s hope…maybe.

COMMENTARY

Tom Brady will be in the house on Sunday. This used to be pretty standard stuff. 

So, too, did the hope Brady carried in his wake like a trail of for Patriot fans over the course of two decades. 

That “hope,” normally an annual rite of passage in Foxborough, has receded from Super Bowl aspirations to more mundane outcomes. Like, seeing quarterback Mac Jones survive the season’s first month behind an offensive line that might as well employ five Wal-Mart greeters — that’s a more appropriate spot to address wild expectations. 

There’s the “hope” that new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien will right the wrongs created by last year’s Tweedle Dee tandem of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge. Because if the offense is worse this season….gulp. 

Everyone hopes that Jones is in line for a bounce-back season, albeit with the nagging fear that he’ll never escape the shadow that will happen to be the main focus on Sunday afternoon. There’s deserved hope that the defense will be among the best units in the game. There’s hope that first-round draft pick Christian Gonzalez isn’t another first-pick bust. Patriot fans hope that Bill Belichick chasing Shula’s record won’t take the focus off the roster. Jerod Mayo has to be hoping that his time as the head coach for this franchise will come. Steve Belichick is just hoping beyond all that is holy that the camera stays off him on the sideline. Bill Belichick is probably hoping that he and Eagles defensive something Matt Patricia can maybe grab a few beers after the game Sunday.

There’s hope that JuJu Smith-Schuster’s repaired knee doesn’t blow; sneaky hope that Kendrick Bourne is going to be a monster this season. There’s even a shred of hope that the games, unlike the dreadful 2022 season, won’t develop into unwatchable bores. 

Nobody is picking the Patriots to win the Super Bowl. Very few even see them making the playoffs. 

But, there’s hope. 

Or maybe it’s just desperation. Whatever you want to call it. 

This week’s predictions

Jimmy Kempski, Philly Voice: Eagles (-3.5). “When the Eagles are good, road games can often feel like home games because Philly fans travel so well. This Sunday, there won’t be many Birds fans at Gillette Stadium because Tom Brady is being honored at halftime, which is causing astronomical ticket prices. In that sense, it’s not ideal that the Eagles drew a Patriots away game Week 1. Ultimately, it shouldn’t matter. The Pats have a very good defense, but the Eagles can score on anyone. On the other side of the ball, the Pats’ already bad offense will be compromised by their banged-up offensive line. The Eagles should dominate in the trenches and pound Mac Jones.” 

Globe staff: Everybody loves the Eagles (-4). 

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: Eagles 24, Patriots 17. “Will Bill Belichick ever relocate his lost mojo? (The one Brady took with him?) NFC champ Birds won’t match last year’s 14-3 record but are still the team to beat over there, and adding RB D’Andre Swift makes a potent offense even better. Belichick still has the defense to keep Pats in games, but QB Mac Jones has a lot to prove and not a ton of special offensive talent to help him.” 

Michael Hurley, CBS Boston: Philadelphia. “Look at the Patriots’ strength of victory (combined winning percentage of teams they’ve beaten) since 2020: .429, .394, .415. They’ll pull off a random upset from time to time — Cam Newton vs. the Ravens comes to mind, or the tornado-wind game in Buffalo — but by and large, they win and lose when they’re supposed to. And in this one, even with Tom Brady in the building, they’re not supposed to win.”

Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: Eagles 30, Patriots 22. “The defending NFC-champion Eagles are going to find out what it’s like to be the hunted this season, starting in this one. They have the talent to handle it, but it’s a tough road to navigate this season. New England will be good on defense this season, but the Eagles offense and Jalen Hurts will be too big of a challenge to open the season. Mac Jones won’t keep up.” 

CBS Sports staff: Six of eight pick Philadelphia (-3.5)

Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times: Eagles 28, Patriots 17. “Jalen Hurts will maintain his momentum from last season, and the Eagles will own the game in the trenches. New England’s offense will be better under Bill O’Brien, but that will take some time.” 

Benjamin Hoffman, The New York Times: Eagles (-4). “The days of the Patriots being an automatic pick any time a young, or even youngish, quarterback travels to Foxborough, Mass., have seemingly come to an end. Coach Bill Belichick undoubtedly still has quite a few mind games and strategies to combat the all-around play of a signal-caller like the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts, but he does not have the personnel to make it happen. And on the offensive side, Bill O’Brien seems like a good choice as a coordinator but the pickups of running back Ezekiel Elliott and JuJu Smith-Schuster are a few years past their sell-by date.” 

ESPN staff: One (Seth Wickersham) of nine picks the Patriots. 

Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports: Patriots (+4). “It’s hard to fade the Eagles. However, I do think the Patriots are better than everyone thinks. They’re the one team that I thought I had too low in the power rankings this week. It was just hard to get them much higher. But we know the Patriots will be good on defense and the offense will be much improved now that an adult is calling plays.”

Sheil Kapadia, The Ringer: Eagles (-4). “Historically, it’s been risky to pick against Belichick as an underdog, but in the last three seasons (since Tom Brady left), the Patriots are 9-13 against the spread as underdogs. I think we’ll see a competitive game, but I like the Eagles to cover this number.”

USA Today staff: All Eagles. 

SB Nation staff: One of 11 picks the Pats. 

Vinnie Iyer, The Sporting News: Eagles 23, Patriots 20. “The Eagles took considerable personnel hits in the offseason and are hoping both defensive youth and a remixed backfield will help compensate in their quest to repeat as NFC champions as NFC favorites. The Patriots’ defense is a tough first assignment and their new-look offense under Bill O’Brien will grind away with a few more big plays to stay in the game.”

Bill Bender, The Sporting News: Eagles 24, Patriots 17. “How far removed are we from that Super Bowl LII classic between these teams? Former Alabama quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Mac Jones will be the focus, but we’re watching how D’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny fare against the Patriots’ interior defense. New England was 0-3 ATS as a home underdog last season. The Pats slow this one down, but the Eagles avoid the big mistake on the road.”

Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk: Eagles, 30-23.

Chris Simms, Pro Football Talk: Eagles, 30-24. 

It says here: Eagles 27, Patriots 23. Brady? Gronk? Welker? Edelman? You’ll impress me with the guest list for Sunday’s halftime ceremony only if it includes John Jastremskiand Jim McNally.