Eagles-Jaguars predictions: What the national media is saying about Doug Pederson’s return to Philly

The Eagles are favorites on Sunday, but will they beat Doug Pederson in his first game against his old team?

Skinny Batman DeVonta Smith, left, celebrates his touchdown against the Commanders with fellow Batmen A.J. Brown (11) and Quez Watkins (16).Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer

Published Oct. 1, 2022, 5:00 a.m. ET

Week 4 of the NFL season has arrived, and there’s just one undefeated left in the entire league. To the surprise of many, that’s the Eagles, who will go for 4-0 on Sunday when the host the Jaguars and former coach Doug Pederson at the Linc.

It will be the Super Bowl-winning coach’s first time going against his old team, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t receive a warm welcome from the tens of thousands of Eagles fans — at least that will be the case before the opening kickoff. After that, with a fan base that’s suddenly thinking about returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since Pederson led them there in 2018, it’s all fair game.

Currently, the Eagles are 6.5-point favorites, and oddsmakers at FanDuel have them at -290 on the money line with a total of 45.5. That might be a little closer than some expected, considering the opponent, but Pederson has his team playing well. They’ve won two straight by a combined score of 62-10, which has helped the Jags earn the second highest point differential in the NFL, more than 3 points per game better than the Birds.

So who’s picking the Eagles to remain undefeated? And who’s picking against them? It’s much more split than last week, when almost everyone was predicting an Eagles win over Carson Wentz and the Commanders. Let’s take a look at some predictions from the local and national media, starting right here with our own Eagles beat writers ...

Inquirer beat writer predictions

Our writers are split over the outcome of this game, so we’ll turn this space over to the lone voice of decent among the trio of football scribes.

I picked the Eagles to win this game before the season and to lose in Arizona for a 4-1 start. With the clarity of three weeks, this game feels much more up for grabs. The Eagles have the home-field advantage and a slight edge in talent, but the Jags just might be good enough to exploit some of the imperfections we’ve seen in the Eagles’ armor the last few weeks.

Prediction: Jaguars 34, Eagles 31

EJ Smith

For the rest of EJ’s prediction, as well as much more optimistic picks from Jeff McLane and Josh Tolentino, check out their full predictions here.

National media predictions

Here’s a look at what those around the country have to say about this week’s Eagles-Jaguars game ...

· ESPN.com: After a (correct) unanimous pick last week, ESPN’s experts are split on this one, with five of the eight picking the Eagles.

· NFL.com: Gregg Rosenthal is riding with the Eagles for the fourth week in a row, but this time he doesn’t have them covering the spread. Still, a win is a win.

· CBS Sports: Seven of their eight football experts are picking the Birds to win. But just three think they’ll cover the spread.

· Sports Illustrated: Four of MMQB’s five football writers are picking the Eagles over the Jags.

· Yahoo! Sports: Frank Schwab doesn’t give away a winner, but he does think the Jaguars cover the 6.5-point spread, while hinting they could do even more, like win outright.

· The Ringer: The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia also only makes picks against the spread. And this week, he’s going with the underdog Jags to cover.

· The Athletic: For the second week in a row, it a unanimous Eagles pick from the staff at The Athletic. Unlike last week, however, they’re the outlier in that regard — so far.

· USA TODAY: We’ve got our second clean sweep of the day, with all seven writers at USA TODAY taking the Birds.

· Pro Football Talk: Mike Florio and Michael David Smith are unanimous in picking the Eagles.

· Bleacher Report: While three of their seven experts think the Jaguars will cover, the consensus from their staff is an Eagles win and cover.

Local media predictions

Who knows a team better than the writers who follow them day in and day out? Let’s take a look at who the local writers for both teams are predicting ...

· Jacksonville.com: Four of their seven writers are taking the Jags to win, but only one has them winning by more than a field goal.

· PhillyVoice: All seven of their writers are picking the Eagles.

· Bleeding Green Nation: Six writers, six Eagles picks from the BGN staff.

· NJ.com: Four of their five writers are going with the home team on Sunday.