Here's a fun one. Brandon Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation gives us his take on how the Eagles could lose this game, and because we're an optimistic sort, we'll assume he meant will.



Offense

Atlanta's defense was arguably the worst in the league last season, so it's hard to imagine the Eagles are too concerned about the defense. But in fairness Atlanta did address their weaknesses to some extent. The Falcons hired Dan Quinn, who seems to be highly thought of around the league, to help fix the defense. Atlanta also brought in athletic pass rusher Vic Beasley through the NFL Draft. Third-year player Desmond Trufant showed great potential as a rookie and could be a deterrent in the passing game. The Falcons defense might not be good yet, but one could figure it will be at least a little more respectable than last season.

Despite a good preseason showing, Sam Bradford is also a question mark. This will be the first full game he's played since 2013. How will he handle potentially getting hit over the course of the game?

Defense

This is the biggest concern for the Eagles. Philadelphia really struggled to cover top wide receivers last season, especially down the stretch. The Eagles brought in some new secondary personnel, but there are still question marks. Veteran Nolan Carroll, who looks like he can be an OK starter on the outside, will likely be asked to play the nickel position at times. If that's the case, the cornerback filling in on the outside could be either E.J. Biggers or rookie Eric Rowe. Biggers is not a very good player and Rowe, a converted safety, struggled in the preseason at times. Matt Ryan might try to take advantage of that cornerback situation.

The X Factor

Hype. There's been a lot of hype around the Eagles lately after having such a strong preseason. A lot of experts are suddenly calling for Philadelphia to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history. Maybe the Eagles enter Week 1 a little too overconfident. Expectations are high, and there's a lot of room to fall.