Why the Eagles Must Win Week 1 … Or Else

So, Howie Roseman managed to do it. He got rid of Sam Bradford, and for a first round pick to boot. Howie clearly realized how horrible it would be for Philly to suffer the indignity of the NFL draft taking place here without the Eagles having a first round pick, so he acted accordingly. 

If you noticed an unusual volume of cars on I-95 last Saturday, it wasn’t holiday weekend shore traffic -- it was all the people lining up to volunteer to drive Sam Bradford to the airport. 

And even better, we will get to see Carson Wentz in game action in September 2016 instead of September 2017. Sure, I’m excited to see Wentz, even though the team went 4-0 in a preseason in which he barely played, raising all new questions about whether we even needed him at all. 

But let’s get real, because the season starts this Sunday, against the Cleveland Browns: The Eagles have everything on the line. The game is a must-win, and if they don’t beat the Browns, the Birds might as well not even play the other 15 games. I would say that a loss to the Browns would put Doug Pederson on the hot seat, but come on -- you know he’s on it already. 

It was embarrassing enough when the Cowboys’ starting quarterback went down with a broken bone in his back, and the Eagles had nothing to do with it. Do you think those guys in the parking lot will have “Dak Prescott Sucks” shirts printed up in time for Sunday? At least there’s a chance we might get to see Mark Sanchez play for the Cowboys -- I hear he loves playing on Thanksgiving. 

But there’s one reason to be excited: A hero has risen, and his name is Paul Turner. An undrafted free agent wide receiver from Louisiana Tech who has gone from total obscurity all the way to the practice squad, Paul Turner is all of us. I haven’t been this excited about an undrafted Eagles receiver since Hank Baskett. 

So remember, Eagles: The future is now, the youth is here, and a promising new era has arrived. But if you lose on Sunday? It’s all over. 

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Other Philly sports takes: 

- Sure, the Sixers signing Elton Brand didn’t work out the first two times it was done, by the last two GM regimes. But this time? I think it’s the right move. If there’s one big man who can show Joel Embiid how to be healthy, and teach Okafor and Noel how to play together, it’s Elton. 

- Other than that, there’s not much to get excited about with the Sixers, but give them credit for this: Unlike two other Philly teams, they’ve never considered bringing in Tim Tebow. 

- The lesson of Josh Innes’ tenure on the radio in Philly is clear: Most of the sports radio hosts in this town are either station lifers, or recently retired Eagles players. With Innes, they finally went with someone who’s neither. Hopefully they learned from the mistake and won’t ever do it again. 

- And finally, can you believe this nonsense with the fake caller on the other station? I mean, what kind of an idiot would spend several years honing the persona of a stereotypical fake Philadelphia sports radio caller? 

Follow @FakeWIPCaller on Twitter. 

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