Tonight, the Philadelphia Eagles will play football for the first time since hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in February as they face their NFC East rival, the Dallas Cowboys, in the NFL Kickoff Game spotlight.
For the Eagles, not too much has changed since the 2024 season. Their offensive core of Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, AJ Brown, and Devonta Smith is all signed on for another year in Philadelphia.
Barkley, the most notable addition to Philadelphia’s roster just a year ago, posted a massive 2,005-yard, 13-touchdown season, setting career-highs in both categories on the way to earning Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Directly in front of him, Hurts, the sixth-year signal caller, threw for just under 3,000 yards and 18 touchdowns, while rushing for 630 yards and 14 touchdowns, with the help of his 222-pound running back.
Out wide, Hurts' most dangerous weapons, Brown and Smith, combined for nearly 2,000 receiving yards and accounted for 15 of Hurts’ 18 touchdowns through the air.
Right and left tackles Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson helped propel the Eagles to claim a top-5 defensive line. Johnson finished the year ranked fifth in pass block win rate and sixth among tackles in pass blocking by PFF, while Mailata came in 14th and second, respectively.
Two of the top-10 pass blockers in the league are the reason Hurts posted his highest completion rating (68.7) in his career, and threw for close to 3,000 yards on nearly 200 fewer attempts than he did in 2023.
That core is a huge part of the reason why the Eagles swept the Cowboys by a combined score of 77-13 last season.
Yet, there are a few changes to Philadelphia’s roster.
The Eagles lost several key pieces in the offseason: Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Darius Slay, and Mekhi Becton all departed in free agency, while Landon Dickerson and Nakobe Dean are battling injuries. Most of the core stars are still intact, but it may take some time to adjust to so many new moving parts.
Many younger players will be upgraded to a starting role: Rookie Jalyx Hunt replaces Sweat, Jordan Davis replaces Milton Williams, Kelee Ringo replaces Darius Slay, and Sydney Brown replaces CJ Gardner-Johnson.
Another significant change is that the Eagles will play the Cowboys in Week 1 for the first time since 2000.
Philadelphia will host the start of the 2025 NFL season tonight at 8:20 pm ET on NBC.
