There are many things to like about the Eagles' 2011 schedule. Not necessarily in order of importance, they are:
* Six of their first nine games will be against teams coming off losing seasons, including their Sept. 11 season-opener on the road against the St. Louis Rams (7-9).
* While they will face five 2010 playoff teams, just one of those five games - at Atlanta in an NBC Week 2 Sunday night faceoff on Sept. 18 - will be in the first 8 weeks of the season.
The Falcons game is one of five prime-time contests on the Eagles' schedule, which includes three Sunday night games on NBC (vs. Falcons, vs. Cowboys on Oct. 30, at Giants on Nov. 20), one Monday night game on ESPN (home against the Bears on Nov. 7) and one Thursday night game on the NFL Network (at Seattle on Dec. 1).
* They've got a well-placed bye in Week 7, followed by three straight home games.
While it's usually a mistake to read too much into schedules in April, this year's Eagles dance card appears to be very similar to last season's, challenging in the second half of the season, but not too difficult early on, which should give them an opportunity to have some early success and gain confidence for the crucial November/December homestretch.
Yes, they will be on the road for the first 2 weeks for the first time since 2002. But it didn't work out too badly for them that year. They finished 12-4 and made it to the NFC Championship Game, where they were beaten 27-10 by Tampa Bay in the last game at the Vet.
And, yes, four of their first six games are on the road for the first time since 1997. That actually did turn out badly; they lost four of those first six in '97 and finished 6-9-1.
The Eagles' final seven games will be no cake walk. Four of those are on the road. After their Sunday night battle against the Giants at the New Meadlowlands in Week 11 (Nov. 20), they will host the Patriots at the Linc on Nov. 27, then have to fly across country for a Thursday night game on 3 days' rest against the Seahawks. You can pencil that one in as a loss right now.
After that, they'll face the Dolphins on the road on Dec. 11, return home for a Dec. 18 game against Rex Ryan and the Jets, hit the road again for a Christmas Eve game in Dallas against the Cowboys, and finish the regular-season at home on New Year's Day against the Redskins.
Of course, there's no guarantee the season is going to come off as scripted by the schedulemaker. While NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said last night that the league fully expects the season to start on time, the fact of the matter is there's a lockout in place at the moment and Goodell's word counts about as much as his $1 salary right now.
The league does have a little bit of flexibility. The Super Bowl is scheduled for Feb. 5 in Indianapolis. But the NFL has asked the city's Super Bowl Host Committee to leave open the following week, so the Super Bowl could be moved back to Feb. 12.
The league also could eliminate the off week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl, which means the start of the season could be delayed until the week of Sept. 25 and a full 16-game schedule could still be played.
