Eagles vs. Lions predictions: Our writers pick a winner for Week 11

The Eagles will return to the field after a short week, looking to take down the Detroit Lions in another prime-time matchup that comes six days on the heels of a Monday night triumph over the Green Bay Packers.

Here’s how our writers see the Eagles faring against their second straight top-shelf NFC opponent.

What’s a bit if you don’t stick to it?

We did the yearly exercise of predicting the Eagles’ game-by-game results when the schedule came out in May, and this game felt like a coin flip. So I flipped a coin. Eagles. We did the same exercise again in September — although we were a bit more informed about the teams at that point — and I pulled out a coin again. Lions.

» READ MORE: Our writers hand out midseason awards, ID second-half X factors

Well, here we are. Week 11, Lions at Eagles, and the Eagles are narrow favorites in a home game that could have major home-field implications come playoff time. Time to go once again to the ol’ quarter, which unlike the penny has not yet met its demise. Jordan Mailata has called tails more than heads this season by my calculations, so tails — which never fails — was Eagles, and heads was Lions.

Alas, tails does indeed fail. Lions. Which is fine, because the analysis if I put my serious football face on was leaning that way anyway.

This is a really good offense. The Lions are second in the NFL at 31.4 points per game. They have a two-headed running attack and a trio of pass catchers that keep defenses on their toes. Yes, the Eagles do have a good defense. It might even be a great defense now after the addition of Jaelan Phillips and the return of Nolan Smith. But this good-on-good matchup seems to favor the Lions with all of the things they’re good at.

» READ MORE: The Eagles aren't perfect, but they're pretty great

The Eagles offense, meanwhile, will need to keep up. They’ve shown signs of life that that’s possible, but their most recent performance left a lot to be desired.

There are rarely good times for short weeks, but this is especially not one of them. Maybe it’s a shootout and, in that case, it ends up being anyone’s game. Whoever blinks last loses. Those games sometimes feel like coin flips at the end.

Prediction: Lions 27, Eagles 24

In February, Amon-Ra St. Brown clamored for the NFL scheduling overlords to book Eagles-Lions for the season opener at the Linc.

Well, he got perhaps the next best thing: a Week 11 matchup between the teams, with the Lions coming off a resounding 44-22 win over the Washington Commanders and the Eagles still figuring out their offensive identity following a 10-7 road win against the Green Bay Packers.

The Lions offense was stellar with head coach Dan Campbell calling the plays last week. They have excelled at using the running game to set up the play-action passing game. Against the Commanders, Detroit had a 51.4% play-action rate, according to Next Gen Stats, its highest rate of the season.

» READ MORE: What we know (and don't know) about the Eagles entering Lions week

Stopping the run, headlined by Jahmyr Gibbs, is going to be the key to limiting the Lions. The Eagles have vastly improved in the running game over the last few weeks, in part due to the addition of Jaelan Phillips and Nakobe Dean to Vic Fangio’s group.

If the offense is going to make any improvements this week, they must be in the passing game. If the Lions continue to play man coverage at a high rate as they have all season long, Jalen Hurts must make them pay by getting the ball to A.J. Brown. Kevin Patullo and the rest of the Eagles offense must do a better job at attacking the middle of the field than they did on Monday night against the Packers.

This might just be the most difficult game remaining on the Eagles schedule. I think the narrow win over the Packers — and the subsequent Brown Twitch stream reaction — should be the wake-up call that the offense needs to go back to the drawing board ahead of this game.

Prediction: Eagles 27, Lions 23

Whoever dialed up the fourth-down bomb against Green Bay might want to call it again on Sunday against Detroit as the Eagles’ best route to a victory is beating the Lions through the air. So don’t drop Brown from your fantasy team just yet.

No defense has a higher average depth of target (9.6 yards) than the Lions, who have allowed the seventh-highest number of passing TDs this year. The Lions’ secondary continues to be thinned by injuries as cornerback D.J. Reed remains on injured reserve and safety Kerby Joseph and cornerback Terrion Arnold have yet to practice this week. The unit — they’re calling them the ”Legion of Whom” in Detroit — has managed to hold it together the last few weeks thanks to the pressure applied by the defensive line, which has 11 sacks in the last three weeks.

If the Eagles can win in the trenches, Hurts should be able to make Brown happy downfield. The Lions offense has everything you need — a stud running back, a premier receiver, and a legitimate quarterback — but the Eagles suddenly have a defensive line that can control a game thanks to the game wrecker Phillips. They’ll be able to slow the Lions enough on Sunday night.

Prediction: Eagles 31, Lions 24