W2W4: New England Patriots vs Philadelphia Eagles

Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The New England Patriots return home to Gillette Stadium to face off against the Philadelphia Eagles following their first loss of the 2015 NFL season. The Patriots fell to 10-1 and welcome Chip Kelly and his 4-7 Eagles to Foxborough, MA. The Patriots will be trying to prevent consecutive losses since September 2012 when the Patriots lost to Arizona and Baltimore in back-to-back weeks.

Beyond losing the game 30-24 to the Denver Broncos last Sunday night, the Patriots suffered bigger losses when linebacker Dont’a Hightower left with a knee injury and tight end Rob Gronkowski was carted off the field with a knee injury. Fortunately for New England, neither is expected to be out for long. However, neither is expected to play on Sunday afternoon.

The Eagles have lost three straight games since defeating the Cowboys in overtime in week nine. After being edged by the Miami Dolphins 20-19, the Eagles have lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 45-17 and then the Eagles went to Detroit and lost 45-14 on Thanksgiving Day. However, the Eagles get quarterback Sam Bradford back after he left the Dolphins game injured and backup Mark Sanchez led the Eagles to three straight losses.

With the Eagles the final NFC East team on the Patriots’ schedule, the rest of 2015 games are within the AFC as the Patriots try to lock-up the top seed in the conference. Since both teams are focusing on ending their losing ways, let’s investigate both teams and what to watch for on Sunday and the game score prediction at the end of the analysis (note: you can also follow my live tweets and in-game analysis during New England Patriots games at @halbent01 on Twitter).

Next: When the Eagles Run the Ball