Lions at Eagles game preview and final score prediction
By Ryan Russell
The Detroit Lions will clash with the Philadelphia Eagles on the road this Sunday. Can Detroit pull out a victory and stay ahead of their daunting schedule?
The Detroit Lions take on the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field this Sunday, September 22nd at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. This marks the 34th meeting all-time between the two teams dating back to October 18th, 1933. Philadelphia leads the series 16-15-2, including one postseason game.
The last meeting between Detroit and Philadelphia was back in 2016 at Ford Field. The Eagles lead this game 23-21 with roughly seven minutes left on the clock. They had come back from a 21-7 deficit. Detroit then sent out kicker Matt Prater for a 29-yard field goal with 1:30 left on the clock. Prater made the field goal and Detroit clinched the victory 23-21.
Philadelphia canceled practice on Wednesday and had a walk-thru instead. This was due to the extensive injury report they had. The Eagles are expected to be without a couple of their starters Sunday, but this does not mean this Eagles team should be overlooked. Philadelphia has plenty of firepower left and is still a very dangerous team.
I’m going to pick out two players from the Eagles offense and two players from their defense that I think the Lions should be very wary of. There are still a lot of dangerous players that will be playing on Sunday for Philadelphia, but we will just look at two from both sides of the ball right quick. But let’s start with Philadelphia’s defense.
Preview – The Eagles Defense
A couple of guys that stand out on the Eagles defense to me are defensive end Brandon Graham and four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. Both of these men can change the game in an instant and Detroit must be aware of where they are and what they are doing at all times.
Graham has had 16 forced fumbles and 42.5 sacks since entering the league in 2010. Cox entered the league in 2012 and has racked up eight forced fumbles, 10 fumble recoveries and 44.5 sacks with 10.5 of them sacks coming in 2018.
The Eagles only have 2.0 sacks so far this season but that can change at any given moment. Between their first two games, they had 14 quarterback hits. Those hits can turn into sacks in a hurry as the Eagles have plenty of talent on the defensive side of the ball.