A trip to Pittsburgh offers the Eagles a glimpse of what might be in store at the Linc | Early Birds
This weekend, the Eagles will play in front of fans for the first time this season.
The Eagles will travel this weekend to Pittsburgh, where they haven’t played a regular-season game since a 16-14 loss back in the forgettable year of 2012, when they went 4-12 and Andy Reid got fired.
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— Les Bowen (earlybirds@inquirer.com)
Heinz will have added flavor
When the Eagles visit Heinz Field — where they are 0-2 in regular-season games — to play the host Pittsburgh Steelers, they will take the field Sunday in front of fans for the first time this season. Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision this week to allow up to 7,500 people in venues that seat more than 10,000 quickly translated into a seating plan by the Steelers.
It hasn’t gone quite that smoothly for the Eagles, who are bound by city prohibitions that have not been lifted. The city has said it will render a decision on Lincoln Financial Field next week. The Eagles seem optimistic that they will have some fans at their game against the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 18.
“It’s going to be great for both teams, I think. As we’ve said, players feed off of that emotion, and off of the crowd. Even though it’s a small number, the voices will be heard, and guys are looking forward to doing that and playing in front of a few fans,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said Wednesday. “Hopefully it will work out to where when we come back home, we’ll have fans at our stadium as well.”
Cornerback Darius Slay said he might be excited to be booed, for a change.
“They might boo, I might be, like, ‘Yes!’ ” Slay said. “It’s great to play in front of some fans. … Make a play, silence the crowd, might feel good.”
Wentz gone wild
Carson Wentz was asked Wednesday about the move he put on a 49es defender on his 11-yard touchdown run Sunday night.
“I’ve been working on that one for a while,” Wentz said. “I’ve got to work on the touchdown celebration, though. Those are always pretty lame.”
What you need to know about the Eagles
Sack race: The Eagles defensive line has been the team’s best unit this season, but it will face a stiff test Sunday, Paul Domowitch says, and he has a chart and stuff, too.
After careful film review, Jeff McLane has some linebacking observations.
Suddenly, there are doubts about whether the NFL season really is viable, amid more positive coronavirus tests. Darius Slay says he believes the Eagles have made things as safe as possible, but frankly, back when camps opened, he thought the whole thing was a bad idea.
Damichael Cole offers details of the league’s current COVID-19 problems.
From the mailbag
How many games will they [the Eagles] win this season? — Dan (@campaphobic on Twitter)
Dan, I said 8-8 and a playoff berth before the season started, and I’m going to stick with something close to that, even though I don’t think I’m picking the Eagles to win this weekend, which would leave them 1-3-1, and they will be massive underdogs to the Ravens the week after. I feel they can win their remaining five NFC East games, and pick up one or two more along the way, maybe against the Browns and Cardinals.
But really, it’s so hard to say. They are due to get some of the key injured guys back, and that could make them a completely different team. (Specifically, Dallas Goedert, Jalen Reagor and a truly healthy DeSean Jackson could make them a completely different team, if the young offensive line holds up.)
I think Wentz will play better. If Jordan Mailata really can handle left tackle, I might have to revise my expectations upward.