Eagles vs. Falcons predictions: Our writers make their picks for a Week 2 matchup at the Linc

The Eagles will play Monday night at home against the Atlanta Falcons. Here are our writers’ predictions for Week 2.

The Eagles return to play an actual home game at Lincoln Financial Field and will be under the spotlight on Monday night. They should have some momentum coming off a season-opening win over the Green Bay Packers in Brazil that was sloppy, but offered areas to be optimistic about. At the top of that list may be Kellen Moore’s new offense. He dialed up plays that utilized motion and helped quarterback Jalen Hurts get pre-snap defensive clues and plays that schemed open receivers. Hurts was careless with the football, but the Eagles still managed to score 34 points. He doesn’t necessarily need to get out of the way for the offense to produce. Moore still needs him to be elite — at times — with his arm and legs. But Hurts doesn’t have to force the issue. The Eagles have the chance to be as explosive as any offense in the NFL.

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The Falcons got off to a brutal offensive start — more on that later — but Raheem Morris’ defense was credible vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers. The new Atlanta coach adjusted his scheme at his previous stop to account for Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay’s defensive preferences, which meant adopting some of Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s tactics. Morris appeared to run some of the same concepts in the opener, so the Eagles offense should have some basic comfort facing a system they’ve seen, in some form, over the last four seasons. Morris had his secondary in zone the entire game against Pittsburgh. He’s got a couple of safeties in Jessie Bates and Justin Simmons who can do it all and are masters of pre-snap disguise. They’ll need to be on point, as well as cornerback A.J. Terrell. Overall, the Falcons don’t have a fierce pass rush. But Matthew Judon, who the Eagles saw in camp with the New England Patriots, lines up all over and will especially task tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata.

Based off Week 1, the Eagles probably had just one Falcons skill position player circled on the chalkboard this week: Bijan Robinson. It seems almost a no-brainer for Fangio to concentrate his defensive efforts on containing the running back. Robinson would normally be the top concern, but typically reliable quarterback Kirk Cousins, who returned from last season’s ruptured Achilles, didn’t look himself in the opener. He’s always been statuesque, but he seemed incapable of even slight movements if forced to move off his drop. He took every snap in the shotgun — often in the pistol — and it was mostly 1-2-3 and get the ball out. He was pressured on 11 of 28 drops, though, and struggled to be effective against a topflight Steelers pass rush. The Eagles didn’t look in that class last week, but the slippery field in São Paulo could have been a factor. The Falcons have a solid offensive line, but Cousins can be had if the Eagles can take away his first reads.

Will it be Quinyon Mitchell starting again at outside cornerback for the Birds, or will Isaiah Rodgers’ healing hand have him back in the lineup with Mitchell in the slot in nickel personnel? Maybe Fangio keeps Mitchell, who had a strong debut, outside and bumps fellow rookie Cooper DeJean up as the fifth defensive back? It seems only a matter of time until DeJean is there. But one thing seems certain: Avonte Maddox won’t be in the slot unless there’s another injury.

If Robinson goes off — and he could considering his shiftiness and the Eagles’ leaky run defense vs. Green Bay — maybe the Falcons can pull off the upset. Maybe Cousins needed just one game to get his bearings. Maybe the areas in which the Eagles struggled on defense, tackling among them, are long-term issues. Maybe Hurts continues to be late with his throws and the turnovers remain. It might take all of that to occur for the Eagles to lose on Nick Foles Night. I’m not trying to diminish the Falcons. They’re only 6½-point road underdogs for a reason. But I think the Eagles clean up their mistakes and cruise at the Linc.

Prediction: Eagles 30, Falcons 16

The Eagles played nowhere near a perfect game last week in Brazil. They lost the turnover battle, 3-1, and were too easy to move the ball against on the ground. But they left São Paulo with a victory over one of the better teams in the NFC.

Atlanta, meanwhile, mustered 10 points in its season-opening loss to the Steelers. Cousins did not look comfortable playing 10 months after surgery to repair a torn right Achilles tendon. He wasn’t very mobile in the pocket and didn’t look capable of planting that foot and driving the football. Cousins and his team insist the former Minnesota Viking is healthy. His sloppy start in Atlanta might’ve been because of rust, Morris said.

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Think the Eagles’ pass rush — which struggled to get its footing and get after Jordan Love on a soccer field — isn’t salivating? Cousins has performed well against the Eagles in prime time in the past, but it’s hard to imagine he’ll replicate those numbers Monday night. Robinson is going to give the Eagles plenty of headaches running the football, but the Eagles saw the same Cousins everyone else saw in Week 1. He looked like a quarterback you’d willingly dare to beat you with his arm.

On the other side, Hurts should have plenty of time to operate against an Atlanta front that doesn’t have a ton of fear-inducing rushers outside of Judon. The new-look offensive line held up last week and should do so again Monday. The Falcons do have a safety in Bates, that can impact games, but it’s a secondary that doesn’t force a ton of turnovers — so long as Hurts can help himself — and ranked in the bottom half of the league in pass coverage last season, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Eagles on paper have too much firepower offensively, even with A.J. Brown being ruled out. Monday is the Eagles’ first real home game of the season, and they won’t be back at Lincoln Financial Field until Oct. 13. It’s hard to envision them laying an egg.

Prediction: Eagles 33, Falcons 17

All eyes are on Cousins this week after his drab debut for the Falcons against the Steelers. The veteran quarterback is nearly a year removed from an Achilles injury that ended his 2023 season. The Falcons insist that he is healthy, but he seemed limited in his mobility in his first game back.

Whether it’s related to Cousins’ injury or not, the Falcons offense was overwhelmingly predictable on Sunday. According to ESPN, the team was in pistol or shotgun on 96% of their snaps. There were no designed runs out of shotgun. They ran the ball on 81% of their snaps out of pistol. Those extreme tendencies do not serve an offense well, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Falcons adjust in their matchup against the Eagles.

One of the keys to limiting the Falcons offensively will be to slow down Robinson. The Eagles struggled against the run in Week 1, conceding 163 rushing yards and one touchdown on 21 carries. Robinson, the Falcons’ No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Texas, ranked No. 15 in the league in rushing yards as a rookie (976 yards).

On the defensive side of the ball, the Falcons don’t have a formidable pass rush. They have a few talented figures in the secondary, including their starting safeties in Simmons and Bates and outside cornerback Terrell. But the Falcons used a lot of zone coverage in Week 1, which Hurts had a lot of success against last year. The Eagles have a matchup advantage at just about every position on both sides, so they’re the clear-cut favorite.

Prediction: Eagles 31, Falcons 20

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The Eagles are going from waters previously uncharted by the NFL to the familiarity of once again spending Week 2 at home against Cousins. And like each of the last two seasons against Cousins’ Vikings, the Eagles have plenty of reason for optimism going into Monday night.

The Falcons offense looked disjointed in their opener against the Steelers, with some obvious patterns tied to formations and very few of the under-center, play-action passes offensive coordinator Zac Robinson is known for.

Perhaps Cousins’ recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon is the rationale for Atlanta’s shaky offensive approach. Either way, the game could come down to the Eagles’ defensive front being able to control things through pressuring Cousins and containing the Falcons’ rushing attack. Sirianni said earlier this week that preparing for Atlanta’s offense is reminiscent of the weeks leading into playing the Giants with Saquon Barkley and for good reason, Bijan Robinson is one of the league’s most dynamic running backs and Atlanta should feature him heavily throughout the season. Considering the Eagles surrendered 7.8 yards per carry to the Packers in Brazil, containing Robinson may be the difference in the game.

On the other side of the ball, even Brown’s absence shouldn’t keep the Eagles from being able to score points. The group will need better decision-making from Hurts against a talented Atlanta secondary featuring the first-round corner Terrell and Pro Bowl safeties Bates and Simmons.

The Eagles have the talent advantage going into Monday night’s game and the extended rest coming off the Brazil trip should have given them enough time to sort out some of the first-game miscues. If they avoid turning the ball over and get disruptive play from the defensive line, this could be a lopsided affair.

Prediction: Eagles 27, Falcons 17

The Eagles play in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Lincoln Financial Field.