Patriots/Eagles: Odds, weather, TV/radio, matchups, and other info

The New England Patriots are back in action and face the Philadelphia Eagles this week. Here’s all the information you need before the game!

The good news for all superstitious New England fans out there is that Nick Foles, Trey Burton, and Corey Clement – the three primary components of the infamous “Philly Special” play – won’t be on the field this Sunday when the Patriots take on the Philadelphia Eagles in a rematch of Super Bowl LII. Foles now plays for the Jaguars, Burton plays for the Bears, and Clement is on injured reserve (he’s still with the Eagles).

In fact, Philadelphia probably is going to look like a very different team from the version New England last saw two years ago.

Back in Minneapolis – the site of that year’s championship game – the Eagles’ leading rushers were LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi. Neither player is even in the NFL right now, though Ajayi reportedly met with Philadelphia team officials on Friday in the wake of news that Eagles do-it-all veteran back Darren Sproles is headed to injured reserve with a torn hip flexor. (UPDATE: Ajayi reportedly has signed with the Eagles, per NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport.)

Three of the five leading receivers for the Eagles in Super Bowl LII – Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith, and Corey Clement – won’t be on the field at “The Linc” this Sunday either. Jeffery missed practice all week with an ankle injury and is officially out for the game, Smith retired back in September, and Clement is out for the entire season.

Most notable of all the changes between that Eagles team that won its first Super Bowl title and this Eagles team the Pats will face on Sunday is the man playing quarterback. Carson Wentz will make his first ever start against Bill Belichick and the New England defense. Foles was in under center against the Patriots in the Super Bowl because Wentz was injured, and Sam Bradford played QB for the birds back in 2015 when the teams last met in the regular season.

The Patriots are also a very different team today than they were two years ago during that Super Bowl run. Gone are Rob Gronkowski, Dion Lewis, Danny Amendola, Brandin Cooks, and Chris Hogan on offense. On defense and special teams, the Patriots are down Stephen Gostkowski, Trey Flowers, Malcom Brown, James Harrison, Eric Rowe, Jordan Richards, Jonathan Bademosi, and Marquis Flowers.

Those personnel losses hurt on offense and special teams, but defensively, it’s hard to argue that the Patriots aren’t significantly better off today than they were back then.

Dont’a Hightower missed that Super Bowl loss due to injury but he’s back in action now, and joined with Jamie Collins at linebacker as well – who was with the Browns back in February of 2017. Jonathan Jones, J.C. Jackson, and Jason McCourty are all massive upgrades at defensive back over Eric Rowe, Jonathan Bademosi, and Jordan Richards, too.

The Patriots definitely aren’t as strong at wide receiver now as they were back in 2017 – only Julian Edelman remains – but Mohamed Sanu seems to be coming along nicely at least, and Phillip Dorsett has been effective when healthy this season.

Where New England really hurts is at tight end. The team knew they wouldn’t be able to replace a generational talent like Rob Gronkowski, but you have to think even Bill Belichick probably hoped they’d have gotten a bit more production from their current TEs than what they have so far this season (Ryan Izzo, Matt LaCosse, and Benjamin Watson).

Of course, the two most important figures on offense for the Patriots are the same in 2019 as they were in 2017: quarterback Tom Brady and coordinator Josh McDaniels. As long as those two minds are still orchestrating the plays for the Pats, this team figures to put up points in bunches… especially as we inch closer and closer to the postseason.

The Patriots will hope to take advantage of an injury-riddled Eagles offense by clamping down in the secondary against Philly’s second-string receivers. In a battle between Nelson Agholor, Mack Hollins, Jordan Matthews, and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside versus Stephon Gilmore, Jason McCourty, Jonathan Jones, and J.C. Jackson, the edge decidedly goes to New England.

The better competition will come between the Eagles’ talented tight end duo of Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert versus the Patriots’ linebackers and safeties: Dont’a Hightower, Jamie Collins, Kyle Van Noy, Devin McCourty, Duron Harmon, and Patrick Chung.

All in all, the Patriots match up well against the Eagles in this one pretty much across the board. If the New England front seven can contain Miles Sanders (and Jordan Howard if he’s healthy enough to play), Belichick’s secondary should be able to completely deactivate the Philadelphia passing game.

On the other end of the equation, Brady and the Patriots offense will likely look to keep the ball moving through the air against a mediocre Eagles defense ranked 16th in the NFL when it comes to passing yards allowed per game. The Eagles are one of 11 teams in the league allowing less than 100 rushing yards per game however, so this probably won’t be Sony Michel’s big breakout (will there ever be a Sony Michel big breakout, by the way?).

Here’s all the info you need to take in this weekend’s game:

Date: Sunday, November 17, 2019
Kickoff time: 4:25 pm EST
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Stadium: Lincoln Financial Field
TV channel: CBS
Radio: TuneIn
Live stream: fuboTV (try for free)
Betting odds: New England -3.5 (Over/Under: 45), courtesy of The Action Network
Weather updates: 40 degrees F; overcast with possible light rain; 43% chance of precipitation

The Patriots washed the rotten taste of losing to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII right out of their mouths last February when they won Super Bowl LIII over the Rams. Still, New England’s players and coaches sound like they’re plenty motivated to use the pain of that loss as fuel for their competitive fire this Sunday in Philadelphia.