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Philadelphia Eagles

Last Season: 7-9

Second place, NFC East

Preseason power ranking: 25

The Eagles have something cooking on defense. As evidenced by their pummeling of Andrew Luck in Week 3 of the preseason, this defensive line is a handful and comes at you in waves. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz also appears to have a high-end safety tandem in Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod. The ‘D’ will hold up its end of the bargain. If the offense can play complementary football, if Carson Wentz can avoid a large amount of rookie mistakes and if Doug Pederson proves that the job is not too big for him, the Eagles have a chance in the NFC East. “You always like to be the underdog because a lot of people sometimes don’t know what they’re talking about,” defensive end Brandon Graham said. “So it’s nice to prove everybody wrong sometimes.” It could go the other way on Pederson. The former quarterback was coaching high school just eight years ago, and needs to show that he can take command on this level and manage the many tasks that come with being a head coach in the NFL. He’s in charge of an offense that could be missing right tackle Lane Johnson for 10 games, has questions at multiple skill positions and is operating with Wentz, who is making the leap from North Dakota State to the pros and only saw a small amount of time in the preseason because of injured ribs. With new systems being implemented on both sides of the ball and plenty of turnover all over the roster, it won’t be easy to get the machine running smoothly in Year 1, especially early.

Eagles’ percentage chance to win each game

Sept. 11 vs. Cleveland: 69.4

Sept. 19 @ Chicago: 37.1

Sept. 25 vs. Pittsburgh: 37.5

Oct. 9 @ Detroit: 43.1

Oct. 16 @ Washington: 35.7

Oct. 23 vs. Minnesota: 37.9

Oct. 30 @ Dallas: 29.5

Nov. 6 @ N.Y. Giants: 28.3

Nov. 13 vs. Atlanta: 52.9

Nov. 20 at Seattle: 19.5

Nov. 28 vs. Green Bay: 37.7

Dec. 4 @ Cincinnati: 25.1

Dec. 11 vs. Washington: 52.3

Dec. 18 @ Baltimore: 30.9

Dec. 22 vs. N.Y. Giants: 49.0

Jan. 1 vs. Dallas: 53.4

Tim McManus’ game-by-game predictions

It appears they will go with the rookie out of North Dakota State to start the season. Wentz almost certainly isn’t ready for this, which means there will be some ugly moments. But Chase Daniel is in Philadelphia because Doug Pederson knows he knows the offense. If things fall apart for the rookie, there is a reasonable safety net in place. But the Eagles are clearly in rebuild, and they’d better be confident they won’t wreck Wentz by playing him before he’s ready. -- Dan Graziano

The team’s best player is Fletcher Cox, who looks poised for a monster year in Schwartz’s 4-3 attack scheme. “Nobody can block Fletch one-on-one,” said defensive end Connor Barwin. With Cox drawing double-teams and collapsing the interior of the line, the rest of the front seven should find plenty of opportunity to shake loose and get after the quarterback. Zach

Ertzwas close to busting through last season (75 catches, 853 yards, 2 TDs), but his lack of productivity in the red zone held him back. Now in Pederson’s tight end friendly system, Ertz should be featured quite a bit and will likely be a favorite target of Wentz’s.

Sam Bradford was originally kept in Philadelphia because management thought he gave the Eagles the best chance to win. That remained the thought heading into Week 1 of the regular season, but the plan changed after the Minnesota Vikings made an offer that the Eagles simply couldn’t turn down. This move is with the future in mind, and may come at the expense of their 2016 aspirations.